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SHAKESPEARE'S 



TRAGEDY OF 



KING RICHARD THE SECOND. 



Edited, with Notes, 

BY 

WILLIAM J. ROLFE, A.M., 

FORMERLY HEAD MASTER OF THE HIGH SCHOOL, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 

WITH ENGRA VINGS. 




.9.^ 



OF C( 






y 



^°fWAS 



H\VA^:. 



J\r£JV YORK:, 

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 



FRANKLIN SQUARE. 



1876. 



K74 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by 

Harper & Brothers, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



PREFACE, 



The text of this edition is based on a careful comparison of the 
quarto of 1597 and the folio of 1623 (see page 12), with a collation of 
4:he other leading editions, all the important varice. lectiones being 
mentioned in the Notes. No "expurgation" of the text has been 
deemed necessary. 

For the convenience of teachers the lines of the text have been 
numbered, and in the Notes the number of the line has been given 
in all references to other passages of Shakespeare. The numbering 
of the " Globe " edition, now generally adopted by Shakespearian com- 
mentators, has been followed in all cases. 

In the Notes, as in the earlier volumes of the series, I have preferred 
to err, if at all, on the side of fulness. As Shakespeare is often his own 
best commentator, I have let him explain himself by parallel passages 
whenever it was possible. In this part of the work I have found 
Abbott's Grammar and Schmidt's Lexicon of constant service. The 
metrical peculiarities have received special attention, and here I have 
seldom seen reason for dissenting from Abbott's decisions. 

On the whole, I hope that this little book may be found in some re- 
spects an improvement on its predecessors, which have been received 
with more favor than I had a right to expect. 

Cambridge, June 22, 1876, • 




"Within the hollow crown 
That rounds the mortal temples of a king, 
Keeps Death his court ; and there the antic sits, 
Scoffing his state, and grinning at his pomp." 

(Ac^ iii. See fie 2.) 



CONTENTS. 



Pago 

Introduction to King Richard the Second 9 

I. The History of the Play g 

II. The Historical Sources of the Play 12 

III. Critical Comments on the Play 14 

KING RICHARD THE SECOND 41 

Act 1 43 

" II 66 

" III 89 

" IV no 

" V '. ..., 122 

Notes 145 




RICHARD II. 



INTRODUCTION 



TO 



RICHARD THE SECOND. 



I. THE HISTORY OF THE PLAY. 

Richard the Second yN-^s> enterecTon the Register of the Sta- 
tioners' Company, in 1597, as follows: 
"29 Aug. 1597 
"Andrew Wise.] The Tragedye of Richard the Seconde." 



lO RICHARD II. 

It was first published in quarto, the same year, with the 
following title-page : 

" The Tragedie of King Richard the second. As it 
hath beene pub likely acted by the right Honourable the Lorde 
Chamberlaine his Seruants. London Printed by Valentine 
Simmes for Androw Wise, and are to be sold at his shop 
in Paules church yard at the signe of the Angel. 1597." 

A second edition in quarto, with the addition of the author's 
name — ^^^ By William Shakespeare ^^-^on the title-page, was 
published by Wise in 1598. 

In 1608 a third quarto edition appeared, the title-page of 
which reads as follows : 

" The Tragedie of King Richard the Second : With 
new additions of the Parliament Sceane, and the deposing 
of King Richard, As it hath been lately acted by the 
Kinges Maiesties seruantes, at the Globe. By William 
Shakespeare. At London, Printed by W. W. for Mathew 
Law^ and are. to be sold at his shop in Paules Church- 
yard, at the signe of the.Foxe. 1608." 

This edition was reprinted in 1615, with the same title- 
page. 

In the folio of 1623 Richard II. occupies pages 23-45 in- 
clusive, in the division of " Histories." 

A fifth quarto edition, "printed by lohn Norton," appar- 
ently from the text of the second folio, was issued in 1634. 

The " new additions " in the third quarto, which appear 
also in the succeeding editions, occur in act iv., scene i, lines 
154-318 inclusive. Though not printed during the life of 
Elizabeth, there can be little doubt that they formed part of 
the play as originally written ; for they agree with the act 
in style and rhythm, and are the natural introduction to the 
Abbot's speech (line 321) : "A woeful pageant have we here 
beheld." Their suppression in the earlier editions was prob- 
ably for fear of offending Elizabeth, who was very sensitive 
upon the subject of the deposition of an English sovereign. 



INTRODUCTION, il 

It had been often attempted in her own case, and she did 
not like to be reminded that it had been accomplished in 
Richard's. It is said that once when Lambarde, the keeper 
of the records in the Tower, in showing her a portion of the 
rolls he had prepared, came to the reign of Richard II., she 
exclaimed, " I am Richard the Second ; know ye not that ?" 
In 1599, Sir John Haywarde was severely censured in the 
Star Chamber, and committed to prison, for his " History 
of the First Part of the Life and Reign of King Henry 
IV.," which contained an account of the deposition of 
Richard. 

The date of the composition of Richard II. is uncertain. 
Malone assigns it to the year 1593, but does not tell us why. 
Knight, from some similarities of expression in this play and 
in the story of Richard as given by Daniel* in the portion of 
his Civil Warres published in 1595, argues that either Daniel 
drew from Shakespeare or Shakespeare from Daniel, and 
that the latter is the more probable supposition. White, from 
a close comparison of the second edition of Daniel's poem 
(also published in 1595) with the first, comes to the conclu- 
sion that certain changes in the former were suggested by 
Shakespeare's Richard II., which had been brought out after 
Daniel published his first edition. This would place the 
composition of the play "in the latter part of the year 1594 
or the beginning of 1595." The editors of the Clarendon 
Press edition consider that the coincidences between Daniel 
and Shakespeare pointed out by White " are too indecisive to 
found any positive conclusions upon." From internal evi- 
dence, however, we should fix the date of the play at about 
this time, when, as White remarks, "Shakespeare had not yet 
attained the fulness of his powers either as a dramatist or a 
poet, and yet was rapidly approaching that rich middle period 

* Staunton, in his edition of Shakespeare (vol. i. p. 502), referring to 
these criticisms of Knight's, inadvertently gives Drayton's name several 
times in place of Daniel's. 



12 RICHARD II. 

of his productive life which gave us the two parts of Henry 
the Fourth^ As You Like It, Much Ado about Nothing, 
Hamlet, and Troilus and Cressida.^' 

For the text of Richard II., the quarto of 1597 and the fo- 
lio of 1623 are the best authorities. In the latter the play 
appears to have been printed from a copy of the quarto of 
16 1 5, corrected with much care, and possibly (as White sug- 
gests) the stage copy of the Globe Theatre ; but, like the rest 
of the folio, it is marred by many errors of the type, and also 
by sundry omissions, amounting to about forty-five lines in all. 
Some of these may have been made intentionally in revising 
the quarto for the printers of the folio ; but there can be no 
question that some are accidental, and perhaps all of them 
are. For supplying these deficiencies, and for the correction 
of typographical and other errors, the quarto is invaluable. 
On the other hand, in the " new additions " first printed in 
the quarto of 1608, the imperfect text of that edition appears 
to have been corrected for the folio from the author's manu- 
script. For this part of the play, therefore, we must depend 
on the folio, as well as for the corrections of the 1615 quarto 
already mentioned. There are but few difficulties in the text 
that are not removed by a careful collation of the two au- 
thorities. 

II. THE HISTORICAL SOURCES OF THE PLAY. 

There was another play, and not improbably two other 
plays, on the same subject, extant in Shakespeare's time, but 
now lost. On the afternoon of the day preceding the insur- 
rection of the Earl of Essex in 1601, Sir Gilly Merrick, one 
of his friends, had a play acted before a company of his 
fellow -conspirators, the subject of which was "deposing 
Richard II." It could scarcely have been Shakespeare's, for 
it is described as an "obsolete tragedy," and the players are 
said to have complained "that the play was old, and they 
should have loss in playing it, because few would come to it." 



IN TROD UCTIOIV. 



13 



Merrick accordingly gave them forty shillings to make up 
the expected deficiency.* 

In the Bodleian Library at Oxford there is a manuscript 
diary by Dr. Simon Forman, in which allusion is made to a 
play of Richard II. acted at the Globe Theatre, April 30, 
161 1. This play, however, began with Wat Tyler's rebellion, 
and seems to have differed in other respects from Shake- 

* In Attorney-General Bacon's speech at the trial of the conspirators 
[State Trials, p. 1445, ed. of 1809) the following passage occurs : 
^" And the story of Henry the Fourth being set forth in a play, and in 
that play there being set forth the killing of a king upon the stage, the 
Friday before, Sir Gilly and some others of the Earl's train having the 
humour to see a play, they must needs have the play of 'Henry the Fourth.' 
The players told them that was stale, they should get nothing by playing 
of that ; but no play else would serve, and Sir Gilly gives forty shillings to 
Phillips the player to play this, besides whatever he could get." 

Here, it will be noticed, the play is called " Henry the Fourth," but in 
Bacon's " Declaration of the Practices and Treasons attempted and com- 
mitted by Robert late Earl of Essex and his complices against her Maj- 
esty and her Kingdoms," we are told that "it was given in evidence . . . 
that the afternoon before the rebellion, Merick, with a great company of 
others that afterwards were all in the action, had procured to be played 
before them the play of deposing King Richard the Second. Neither was 
it casual, but a play bespoken by Merick." 

And again, in the " Examination of Augustine Philipps, servant to the 
Lord Chamberlain and one of his Players, before Lord Chief Justice Pop- 
ham and Edward Fenner" (printed in the Calendar of State Papers, Do- 
mestic Series, 1598-1601, p. 578), we read : 

" On Thursday or Friday sevennight Sir Charles Percy, Sir Josceline 
Percy, Lord Monteagle, and several others spoke to some of our players 
to play the deposing and killing of Richard IL, and promised to give 
them forty shillings more than their ordinary to do so. Examinate and 
his fellows had determined to play some other play, holding that of King 
Richard as being so old and so long out of use that they should have a 
small company of it ; but at this request they were content to play it." 

As we can hardly doubt that this Philipps was the Augustine Philipps 
of the Globe Theatre, one of Shakespeare's " fellows," Mr. J. W. Hales 
{The Academy, Nov. 20, 1875) argues that the play was Shakespeare's, 
notwithstanding it was called an old play and one that it would not pay 
to act ; but the weight of probabilities seems to us to be on the other 
side. 



n 



RICHARD II. 



speare's. Collier and Staunton think it may have been the 
same as the " obsolete tragedy " just mentioned j Knight, the 
Cambridge editors, and White believe it was a different play, 
and this on the whole seems more probable. However that 
may have been, we have no reason for supposing that Shake- 
speare was indebted to any earlier play or plays on the same 
subject. His principal authority for the historical facts he 
has used was Holinshed's " Chronicles of Englande, Scot- 
lande, and Ireland," the first edition of which was published 
in 1577. The poet used the second edition (1586-87), as 
the withering of the bay- trees (ii. 4. 8) is not found in the 
first. The extracts from Holinshed in our notes will show 
how closely Shakespeare followed him, sometimes borrowing 
his very words. 

III. CRITICAL COMMENTS ON THE PLAY. 
\From Coleridge's ^'■Notes and Lectures upoti Shakespeare.''^*'] 

I have stated that the transitional link between the epic 
poem and the drama is the historic drama ; that in the epic 
poem a pre-announced fate gradually adjusts and employs 
the will and the events as its instruments, whilst the drama, 
on the other hand, places fate and will in opposition to each 
other, and is then most perfect, when the victory of fate is 
obtained in consequence of imperfections in the opposing 
will, so as to leave a final impression that the fate itself is but 
a higher and a more intelligent will. 

From the length of the speeches, and the circumstance 
that, with one exception, the events are all historical, and 
presented in their results, not produced by acts seen by, or 
taking place before, the audience, this tragedy is ill suited to 
our present large theatres. But in itself, and for the closet, 
I feel no hesitation in placing it as the first and most admi- 
rable of all Shakespeare's purely historical plays. For the 
two parts of Henry IV. form a species for themselves, which 
* Coleridge's Works (Harper's edition), vol. iv. p. 119 foil. 



INTRO D UCTION. 



15 




^^^- \ Vi 

BOLINGBROKE. 



may be named the mixed drama. The distinction does not 
depend on the mere quality of historical events in the play 
compared with the fictions — for there is as much history in 
Macbeth as in Richard — but in the relation of the history to 
the plot. In the purely historical plays, the history forms 
the plot ; in the mixed, it directs it ; in the rest, as Macbeth, 
Hamlet, Cymbeline, Lear, it subserves it. But, however un- 
suited to the stage this drama may be, God forbid that even 
there it should fall dead on the hearts of jacobinized English- 
men ! Then, indeed, we might say — p?'ceferut gloria mundi ! 
For the spirit of patriotic reminiscence is the all-permeating 



1 6 . RICHARD II. 

soul of this noble work. It is, perhaps, the most purely his- 
torical of Shakespeare's dramas. There are not in it, as in 
the others, characters introduced merely for the purpose of 
giving a greater individuality and realness, as in the comic 
parts of Henry IV., by presenting, as it were, our very selves. 
Shakespeare avails himself of every opportunity to effect the 
great object of the historic drama, that, namely, of familiar- 
izing the people to the great names of their country, and 
thereby of exciting a steady patriotism, a love of just liberty, 
and a respect for all those fundamental institutions of social 
life which bind men together: 

" This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle, 
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, 
This other Eden, demi-paradise ; 
This fortress, built by Nature for herself. 
Against infection, and the hand of war; 
This happy breed of men, this little world ; 
This precious stone set in the silver sea, 
Which serves it in the office of a wall, 
Or as a moat defensive to a home, 
Against the envy of less happier lands ; 
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England, 
This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings, 
Fear'd by their breed, and famous by their birth," etc. 

Add the famous passage in King John : 

*' This England never did, nor ever shall, 
Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror. 
But when it first did help to wound itself. 
Now these her princes are come home again. 
Come the three corners of the world in arms, 
And we shall shock them : nought shall make us ru 
If England to itself do rest but true." 

And it certainly seems that Shakespeare's historic dramas 
produced a very deep effect on the minds of the English peo- 
ple, and in earlier times they were familiar even to the least 
informed of all ranks, according to the relation of Bishop 
Corbett. Marlborough, we know, was not ashamed to con- 



INTRO D UCTION. 1 7 

fess that his principal acquaintance with English history was 
derived from them ; and I believe that a large part of the 
information as to our old names and achievements even now 
abroad is due, directly or indirectly, to Shakespeare. 

Admirable is the judgment with which Shakespeare always 
in the first scene prepares, yet how naturally, and with what 
concealment of art, for the catastrophe. Observe how he 
here presents the germ of all the after-events in Richard's in- 
sincerity, partiality, arbitrariness, arid favoritism, and in the 
proud, tempestuous temperament of his barons. In the very 
beginning, also, is displayed that feature in Richard's char- 
acter which is never forgotten throughout the play — his at- 
tention to decorum and high feeling of the kingly dignity. 
These anticipations show with what judgment Shakespeare 
wrote, and illustrate his care to connect the past and future, 
and unify them with the present by forecast and reminis- 
cence. ... 

In the closing scene of act i. a new light is thrown on 
Richard's character. Until now he has appeared in all the 
beauty of royalty \ but here, as soon as he is left to himself, 
the inherent weakness of his character is immediately shown. 
It is a weakness, however, of a peculiar kind, not arising from 
want of personal courage, or any specific defect of faculty, 
but rather an intellectual feminineness, which feels a necessity 
of ever leaning on the breasts of others, and of reclining on 
those who are all the while known to be inferiors. To this 
must be attributed as its consequences all Richard's vices, 
his tendency to concealment, and his cunning, the whole op- 
eration of which is directed to the getting rid of present diffi- 
culties. Richard is not meant to be a debauchee ; but we 
see in him that sophistry which is common to man, by which 
we can deceive our own hearts, and at one and the same time 
apologize for and yet commit the error. Shakespeare has 
represented this character in a very pecuhar manner. He 
has not made him amiable with counterbalancing faults ; but 

B 



1 8 RICHARD II. 

has openly and broadly drawn those faults without reserve, 
relying on Richard's disproportionate sufferings and gradual- 
ly emergent good qualities for our sympathy ; and this was 
possible, because his faults are not positive vice, but spring 
entirely from defect of character. . . . 

The amiable part of Richard's character is brought full 
upon us by his queen's few words — 

... "so sweet a guest 
As my sweet Richard ;" 

and Shakespeare has carefully shown in^him an intense love 
of his country, well knowing how that feeling would, in a pure 
historic drama, redeem him in the hearts of the audience. Yet 
even in this love there is something feminine and personal : 

*' Dear earth, I do salute thee with my hand, . . . 
As a long-parted mother with her child 
Plays fondly with her tears and smiles in meeting, 
So, weeping, smiling, greet I thee, my earth. 
And do thee favour with my royal hands." 

With this is combined a constant overflow of emotions from 
a total incapability of controlling them, and thence a waste 
of that energy which should have been reserved for actions, 
in the passion and effort of mere resolves and menaces.. The 
consequence is moral exhaustion, and rapid alternations of 
unmanly despair and ungrounded hope- — every feeling being 
abandoned for its direct opposite upon the pressure of exter- 
nal accident. And yet when Richard's inward weakness 
appears to seek refuge in his despair, and his exhaustion 
counterfeits repose, the old habit of kingliness, the effect of 
flatterers from his infancy, is ever and anon producing in him 
a sort of wordy courage which only serves to betray more 
clearly his internal impotence. 

[From Ulricas ^^ Shakespeare' s Dramatic Arf.^'*] 
Richard the Second may for many reasons be regarded as 
* Morrison's trans., London, 1846, p. 365 foil. Some errors are corrected. 



INTROD UCTION. 



19 



the companion of King John. While John employs every 
evil means to maintain his usurped dignity, Richard forfeits 
his just right by a weak use of it. The vitality of history 
endures no abstract, dead notion. The fixed formula of an 
outward, legal, and conventional right is as nothing in the 
sight of history, for which nothing is right but what is truly 
so, as having its foundation in morality. This Richard has 
forfeited before the eyes of men by treading it himself under 
foot. The highest earthly power is not exempt from the 
eternal laws of the universe j the majesty which is by the 
grace of God loses its title as soon as it abandons its only 
foundation in the grace of God, whose justice acknowledges 
no jurisprudence, no rights of family and inheritance, as 
against the immutable rights of truth and reason. Richard 
urges in vain his legal title and the sacred name of majesty ; 
to no purpose does he invoke the angels of Him who set him 
on the throne ; the rights and title of a king avail not to move 
a straw, because they are devoid of the mighty force of inward 
rectitude ; God will send no angel to protect him who has 
rejected his grace. The people, too, in turn abandon him 
who had first abandoned them. The injustice of rebellion 
prevails. The truly noble but spoiled and corrupted nature 
of Richard wanes before the prudence and moderation of 
Bolingbroke. However little of true moral power Henry 
the Fourth subsequently exhibits, nevertheless, as contrasted 
with the unworthy and most unkingly conduct of Richard, he 
looks a model of virtue, and desigried by nature for a throne. 
In the doubtful scale a grain of sand turns the balance. 

Under such an unkingly sovereign the people are of ne- 
cessity plunged in dissension and misery. At the very open- 
ing of the piece we behold the nobility divided by party 
feuds, the people in Ireland in revolt against their lords, and 
the royal family itself distracted with hatred and dissension. 
The Duchess of Gloster bewails her husband's unjust fate, 
while Richard's arbitrary termination of the quarrel between 



20 RICHARD II. 

Norfolk and Bolingbroke throws the aged Gaunt upon his 
death-bed with sorrow for his banished son. In vain does 
he warn the king; truth dies away on the ear which flattery 
has stopped. Caprice follows upon caprice, accumulating 
infamy upon infamy. Richard farms out his kingdom, and 
rapaciously confiscates the property of the House of Lan- 
caster to furnish the money necessary for putting down 
the rebellion in Ireland. While he trusts to his hereditary 
claims and to the divine right of kings, he nevertheless vio- 
lates all the right of family and inheritance-; and, by putting 
his divine office out to hire, he becomes, with suicidal in- 
consistency, the first rebel, and with his own hands sows the 
seed of the revolution which eventually robs him of his life 
and crown. By disregarding in his own person the rights of 
the historical past — which is the true meaning of the so- 
called principle of stability — he places himself on an un- 
substantial future. None but the more aged of his subjects 
— those who live on in a better past, who still see in him 
his heroic and noble-minded father, such as the old York 
with his son, the Bishop of Carlisle, and Salisbury — remain 
faithful to him ; all the vigour of youth and manhood, on the 
other hand, that from its very nature is engrossed by the 
present and future — which, undermined by Richard, wavers 
and threatens to fall — likewise wavers, and at last goes over 
to the rebel Bolingbroke. Here, too, the guiding hand of 
God is discernible. Had Richard returned one day sooner 
from Ireland, he would have found an army ready equipped 
for battle ; but deceived by the accidental delay, and a ru- 
mour of the death of the king, it had dispersed or gone over 
to Henry. His resources being thus cut off, lost to himself 
and powerless, he yields himself into the hands of his enemy ; 
his spirit, like a rotten stem, is broken by the storm which 
he himself had raised. His creatures. Bushy, Bagot, Green, 
and Wiltshire — the wicked instruments of a wicked master, 
who did but confirm him in his injustice — had previously 



INTRO D UCTION. 2 1 

fallen like the branches before the stem. His queen — even 
in prosperity oppressed with a nameless pang, and looking 
into the future with a foreboding fear and assured feeling 
that nothing but misfortune could be the issue of Richard's 
unrighteous deeds, but who yet could be the partner of her 
husband's unkingly dissipation, and who at the death-bed of 
the old Gaunt could listen in silence to his fruitless exhorta- 
tions, and hear without remonstrance the insults of Richard, 
and his unjust order for the spoliation of the House of Lan- 
caster — she naturally, and with justice, shares her consort's 
fate. Both, however, alike make misfortune great ; the way 
in which they meet their fate reconciles them both to God 
and man, and the close of the tragedy is at once truly tragic 
and profoundly poetical. 

A single idea, it is plain, runs through the whole piece and 
its several parts. The poet has here laboured to illustrate 
the high historical significance of the kingly dignity in the 
light that it appears to the Christian view of things, as the 
most exalted, but at the same time the most responsible vo- 
cation that heaven imposes upon man. Absolutely speak- 
ing, every man has no doubt his vocation from God ; but 
whereas the duties and office of every individual member of 
the state are more or less modified by the governing power, 
the dignity of the sovereign stands in an immediate relation 
to God and his all-ruling grace. It pre-eminently is "by 
the grace of God." And, both on this account, and because, 
as Shakespeare shows, the happiness of the whole people de- 
pends on the sovereign, he ought to be only the more mind- 
ful of divine grace, and the greater is his guilt, whenever, for- 
getting his true dignity, he acts unkingly, and contrary to 
justice and to grace. When he contradicts his high vocation, 
he will call in vain upon its divinity to protect him. In being 
called to it, he was called to do justice ; and it is only by 
obeying its call that he can maintain his own right. While, 
then, the poet has thus attempted to elucidate the true rela- 



2 2 RICHARD II. 

tion both of man to his own historical position, and of his 
vocation in Ufe to God, and while he thus places the essence 
of the kingly dignity in its observance of its relation to God 
and the world, he has successfully illustrated modern polit- 
ical history under one of its most essential aspects, and in 
one of its principal ideas. This is the ground idea of the 
whole drama. 

\Froni Gervinus's ^* Shakespeare Commentaries. '''"^'\ 

Richard II. was the son of the Black Prince, Edward III.'s 
brave eldest son. According to historical tradition, he was 
most beautiful, and Shakespeare also, in contrasting him with 
Richard III., who is urged by his deformity to avenge him- 
self on nature, has not without intention invested him with 
the beautiful form, which, according to Bacon, renders " him 
generally light-minded, whom it adorns and whom it moves ;" 
he calls him in the lips of Percy " a sweet lovely rose." He 
gives him the outward features of his father, and allows us 
occasionally to perceive a mental likeness also ; the mild 
nature of the lamb and the violence of the lion, which the 
poet speaks of as combined in the Black Prince, are both 
exhibited in him. The first is scarcely to be mistaken ; it 
becomes visible even at the last moment in the many tokens 
of attachment which he receives at a time when it is danger- 
ous to manifest it, and after his death in the longing for him 
which is aroused in the adversaries who had conspired 
against him. The other quality is more hidden in single 
scattered traits. He appears throughout like a " young hot 
colt," easily provoked, like a violent flame consuming itself 
quickly ; he compares himself to the brilliant Phaeton, who, 
incapable and daring, would manage his refractory steeds ; 
in the moment of misfortune the defiance of an innate nobil- 
ity is aroused in the midst of his sorrow, and in his death he 
appears as "full of valour as of royal blood." But this fine 
* Bunnett's translation, 1863, vol. i. p. 391 foil. 



INTRODUCTION. 23 

disposition is wholly obliterated \ in the early season of his. 
life and rule he has lost his reputation ; he is surrounded by 
a troop of creatures and favourites, parasites and men who 
preyed on the kingdom, who stop his ear with flatteries, and 
poison it with wanton imaginations, who make him tyranni- 
cal and imperious, incapable of hearing a word of blame and 
admonition, even from the lips of his dying uncle"; men who 
made him shallow with Italian fashions, surrounded him with 
every low vanity, and enticed him into ostentation and ex- 
travagance. . . . Impoverished by his companions, Richard 
sees his coffers empty ; he has recourse to forced loans, to ex- 
tortion of taxes and fines, and at last lets the English kingdom 
as a tenure to his parasites, no longer a king, only a landlord 
of England. A traitor to this unsubdued land, he has by his 
contracts resigned the conquests of his father. At length 
he lays hands on private property, and seizes the possessions 
of the late old Lancaster and of his banished son, thus de- 
priving himself of the hearts of the people and of the nobles. 
The ruin of the impoverished land, the subversion of right, 
the danger of property, a revolt in Ireland, the arming of the 
nobles in self-defence^— all these indications allow us to ob- 
serve in the first two acts the growing seed of revolution 
which the misled king had scattered. The prognostication 
of the fall of Richard II. is read by the voice of the people 
in the common signs of all revolutionary periods (act ii. 
sc.4):' 

" Rich men look sad, and ruffians dance and leap, 
The one in fear to lose what they enjoy, 
The other to enjoy by rage and war." 

Besides the scattered touches and the insinuations which 
denote the inability of the king, and his wavering between 
unseasonable power and weakness, the poet has chosen only 
one event for a closer dramatic prominence to which the 
catastrophe of Richard's fate is united — the knightly quar- 
rel between Bolingbroke and Norfolk, with which the piece 



24 RICHARD 11. 

begins. Coleridge said of this scene that it appears intro- 
duced in order beforehand to depict the characters of Rich- 
ard and Bolingbroke ; and Courtenay was even bold enough 
to think it was just introduced because Shakespeare found 
it in the chronicle. But this was not the method of Shake- 
speare's writing. Later in Henry IV. (II. act iv. sc. i) he 
has abundantly said in the plainest language that he began 
with this scene because it was just the beginning of all the 
sufferings which fell upon King Richard and afterwards upon 
his dethroners. Norfolk's son there says : 

" O, when the king did throw his warder down, 
His own life hung upon the staff he threw : 
Then threw he down himself, and all their lives 
That by indictment and by dint of sword 
Have since miscarried under Bolingbroke." 

The scene then, however necessary in itself, certainly serves 
essentially to place in opposition to each other, in their first 
decisive collision, the two main characters, Richard and Bo- 
lingbroke, the declining king yet in his power and glory, and 
the rising one in his misfortune and banishment. In his ac- 
cusation of Norfolk, Bolingbroke besets the king remotely 
with hostile designs. The guilt of Gloster's death rests in 
the public opinion upon the king and his associates; subse- 
quently Aumerle emerges as the immediate instrument ; the 
guilt of having known it and concealed it falls upon Norfolk 
alone, a guilt of which he accuses himself; but the popular 
hatred turns upon him as upon the king.* Bolingbroke, as 
we learn expressly in the second part of Henry IV. (act iv. 
sc. i), uses this circumstance to nourish the hatred and to 
draw upon himself the favour of the people, while he exhibits 
the Lancastrians honourably solicitous about a sacred family 
matter. He knows that Norfolk is not guilty of the death of 
Gloster; but, just as brave as he is politic, he freely ventures 
to propose the judgment of God, for he removes in him 
the single powerful support of the king, and at the same 



INTRODUCTION. 



25 



time the enemy of his own family. The survivors of the 
murdered Gloster spur on the Lancastrians to revenge, their 
own security being concerned ; the old Gaunt indeed com- 
mits vengeance to God, but his son Bolingbroke believes it 
more certain if it is in his own human hand. The venerable 
old man, whom Shakespeare invests with riper years than 
history does, has transmitted to his son the elements out of 
which his deeply concealed character is blended. The hoary 
hero has borne in his heart the welfare of his fatherland, and 
his patriotic feelings obtain so much in his dying hour over 
his fidelity as a subject, that in words of the greatest enthusi- 
asm for his glorious country he cuttingly reproaches the sin- 
ful Richard with what he has done with this "demi-Paradise." 
Sorrow for the country and sorrow for his banished son hur- 
ried him to the grave. With his patriotic feeling is mingled, 
we see, family-feeling and self-love ; both are also strong in 
the son. The son's far-stretching domestic policy accompa- 
nies and determines his whole life ; his patriotic feeling breaks 
forth in the touching lament on his banishment, which justly 
has been called not only very beautiful, but very English. To 
both these traits is joined that diplomatic cunning which lies 
in the very recesses of his nature, and is, therefore, concealed 
without difficulty. This too the son appears to have inherit- 
ed from his father ; for a shrewd design cannot be more deli- 
cately coupled with generosity than in the old Gaunt, when 
in the council of state he gives his vote for the banishment 
of his son, which subsequently breaks his heart, in the idea 
of moving the rest by his too severe sentence to a milder 
judgment. With just such a deeply concealed policy Shake- 
speare has drawn the son, who in one touch alone, in Richard 
IL, appe'ars without a mask, but in all others, throughout the 
three pieces, remains a riddle even to the attentive reader, 
until at length the last hour of life elicits a confession to 
his son. In this same mysterious obscurity even the open- 
ing scene between Bolingbroke and Norfolk is maintained. 



26 RICHARD II. 

The designs and motives which actuate the former we have 
just intimated, but we have gathered them from subsequent 
disclosures ; in the moment of action it is not clear at what 
he aims, and Norfolk's bearing increases the obscurity. The 
voice of innocence and honour speaks in him, mostly in his 
voluntary confessions, and no less so in his strong appeal to 
his fidelity towards the king. It goes so far that he raises 
not the veil from the misdeed of which he is accused, not 
even after the king's sentence of a dateless banishment has 
fallen on him " all unlocked for," when he hoped for other 
reward than this disgrace. The king too condemns him, 
we likewise learn at the end of Henry IV. (II. act iv. sc. i), 
against his will, because the general anger discharged itself 
on him ; but the enthusiasm of popular favour was already 
directed to Bolingbroke, who at" his departure behaves to the 
multitude like a condescending prince. The weak Richard, 
who Norfolk predicts will rue this deed, ignobly banishes for 
a lifetime the man whom he loves and who would have been 
his most faithful support, and for a few years the other whom 
he hates, whose ambitious thoughts he fears, and whose ban- 
ishment he has in his heart faithlessly resolved as limitless. 
He disturbs the combat between the two, whose peace he 
fears still more : he strikes his enemy and provokes him, 
without making him harmless j the helplessness of a man of 
a troubled conscience, who knows not the right occasion for 
mildness or severity, is displayed in this one case. The 
chronicle sums up the faults of his government in these 
words: He showed too great kindness to his friends, too 
great favour to his enemies. Both are just. But in this 
case he shows in his severity towards his friend that he is 
inconsistent moreover, and allows himself to be influenced 
by the power of opinion in an unessential point, when he 
neglected to attend to it in an essential one. 

Quite in the sense of the sentence quoted from the chroni- 
cle, Shakespeare draws the political moral from Richard's 



INTRO D UCTION. 



27 



rule in the garden scene (act iii. sc. 4), and its simple alle- 
gory. The wise gardener cares to give " supportance to the 
bending twigs, which like unruly children make their sire 
stoop with oppression of their prodigal weight ;" he cuts off 
the heads of too fast growing sprays, that look too lofty on 
the commonwealth j he roots away the noisome weed. Rich- 
ard, who had not observed the first of these rules in his jeal- 
ousy of Gloster, who had neglected the second in his too 
great favour to Bolingbroke, and the third in his too great 
kindness to his parasites, Bagot and Bushy, now sees the 
fall of the leaves ; another roots away the- weeds " that his 
broad-spreading leaves did shelter, that seemed in eating 
him to hold him up." Had he cherished and nurtured his 
kingdom as the gardeners their garden, he would have done 
to the great as they to their trees ; wounding the bark at 
times to prevent its too luxuriant growth, he would have 
lopped away the superfluous branches, and thus he might 
have tasted and enjoyed their fruits and retained his crown. 
Instead of this he did everything which could forfeit his 
crown. We have seen the king's unadvised conduct in the 
quarrel between Bolingbroke and Norfolk. Hardly is this 
dispute settled, than the old Gaunt dies ; the Irish revolt de- 
mands a remedy ; the extravagant prince has no money ; he 
now seizes the Lancastrian property, which kindles even the 
good-natured York, indolent and rest-loving as he is. Rich- 
ard goes in person to Ireland, and leaves behind him the 
irritated York, the weakest whom he could choose, as gov- 
ernor of England. Instantly the banished Bolingbroke seizes 
the occasion to return to the kingdom thus vacated, under 
the pretext of taking possession of his lawful inheritance. 
The apprehensive nobles, the Percies, join themselves to him ; 
the miserable friends of the king give up their cause at once 
as lost ; the helpless York goes over. When Richard returns 
from Ireland, he possesses no more of the kingdom than his 
right to it. He persuades himself, rather than that he is 



28 RICHARD 11. 

convinced of it, that with this right he has everything. He 
comes back from Ireland conscience -stricken, foreboding, 
paralyzed, and inactive. With wonted enthusiasm, when he 
again sets foot on English ground, he hopes that the " earth 
shall have a feeling, and the stones prove armed soldiers, ere 
her native king shall falter under foul rebellious arms." He 
buries himself in poetical and religious consolation, and in- 
trenches himself behind his divine right and authority : " not 
all the water in the rough rude sea can wash the balm from 
an anointed king ;" the breath of worldly men cannot de- 
pose the deputy elected by the Lord. He builds upon this, 
that God and heaven, who guard the right, have, for every 
man of Bolingbroke's, " in heavenly pay a glorious angel" 
for him. He compares his kingly dignity to the sun, in 
whose absence robbers range abroad, but before his fiery rise 
in the east they tremblingly escape. But soon the poet, 
glancing silently back upon this image, exhibits him in oppo- 
sition to the robber Bolingbroke, and this latter himself com- 
pares him just so to the sun emerging from the east (act iii. 
sc. 3 : in many editions the passage is placed in the lips of 
York) ; but the envious clouds dim the kingly aspect, block 
up his track, and are not so quickly dispersed as Richard 
imagined. Just while he boasts so warmly of the assistance 
of heaven, the tidings come that not alone no angels stand in 
readiness for him, but that even men are deserting him. 
Then suddenly his confidence in his good right forsakes him. 
He calls upon his name and his majesty, but on a new mes- 
sage of misfortune his courage breaks down even to abdica- 
tion. Once more, later, he asserts to Northumberland his 
divine right, and that no human hand can seize his sacred 
sceptre without robbery and violence. But the blessing of 
heaven is now visibly on the side of power ; he whom the 
people uphold stands more surely than the anointed of God. 
Shakespeare writes here an immortal lesson upon the roy- 
alty of God's grace and the law of inviolability. His ground 



INTROD UCTION, 



29 



is here also that, two-sided one of entire impartiality and 
candour, to which we unweariedly point, as to the greatest 
characteristic of his extraordinary mental superiority. He 
places his opinion chiefly in the mouth of the Bishop of Car- 
lisle, the grand type of genuine loyalty, who stands faithfully 
by the side of the lawful king, without concealing from him 
the stern voice of truth; who defies the unlawful usurper in 
the public assembly, but still elicits even from the latter true 
honour, favour, and esteem. Absorbed in his meditations 
upon show and reality, over which we see Shakespeare 
brooding throughout this period of his life, he cannot regard 
the halo of divine right as the reality of royalty. No invio- 
lability can protect the anointed head, if it render itself un- 
worthy of the divine possession ; no legitimacy and no balm 
can absolve the ruler from his duties to the land of his care. 
Every vocation would appear to our poet of God, and with 
the vocation every duty. The fulfilment of duty is even the 
king's first condition of stability ; by his neglect of it he for- 
feits possession and right, by this he loses himself, his inner 
dignity, his consecration, and his power. Thus Henry IV. 
says to his son in these plain words, that, unbridled and self- 
forgetful as he then was, he wasonly "the shadow of succes- 
sion ;" the honourable Percy, though a rebel, deserved rather 
to be the heir. The dutiful illegality is compared with the 
duty-forgetting legitimacy ; it is placed before it by the man 
who had once elevated himself by it, and who would now se- 
cure his legality by the fulfilment of duty. It is full of in- 
formation upon Shakespeare's true intention, if we carefully 
compare this piece with his King jfohn. The usurper John 
maintains the crown by good and bad means, so long as he 
does not lose his power and confidence, so long as he abstains 
from wicked deeds and useless cruelty, and is thoroughly 
English-minded ; as soon as he descends from his royal duty 
and sells England, he loses himself and his crown. He, the 
usurper, differs not from the lawful Richard, who in the same 



30 



RICHARD IL 



way let the land by lease, and giving up his duty, gave up 
himself also. It belongs essentially to this kingly duty that 
the prince, if he will secure his own right, must defend and 
protect the right of others. The peculiar right of the king is 
not esteemed by Shakespeare more sacred than any other ; 
these views have taken deeper root in England from the 
times of Shakespeare and the Dutch Republic, until Milton, 
in his Defensio pro Fopulo, enforced them with marked em- 
phasis. As soon as Richard had touched the inheritance of 
Lancaster, he had placed in his hands as it 'were the right of 
retaliation. The indolent York says immediately : 

" Take Hereford's rights away, and take from time 
His charters and his customary rights ; 
Let not to-morrow, then, ensue to-day ; 
Be not thyself; for how art thou a king 
But by fair sequence and succession?" 

He tells him that he "plucks a thousand dangers on his 
head," that he loses " a thousand well-disposed hearts," and 
that he " pricks his tender patience to those thoughts which 
honour and allegiance cannot think." To this kingly duty 
there belongs, moreover, not alone the absence of all those 
vices of a weak love of pleasure, by which Richard is ruined, 
but in their place the virtue of energy, which is the first 
honour even of the common man. Heaven alone helps us, 
says Carlisle to Richard, when we embrace his means. And 
Salisbury enforces upon Richard the great experience taken 
from the precipitation of revolutionary times : 

" One day too late, I fear, my noble lord, 
Hath clouded all thy happy days on earth. 
To-day, to-day, unhappy day, too late, 
O'erthrows thy joys, friends, fortune, and thy state." 

Upon this warning he rises, when now even the rising is 
too late. Before, every claim from Aumerle and Carlisle 
upon his manliness, every reproach of his tardiness, was in 
vain ; he was absorbed in himself, and revelled in his mis- 



INTROD UCriON. 3 1 

fortune as before in his prosperity. And so at last his wife 
must shame him when she finds him also deposed in intel- 
lect: she would see him like a lion, dying, that with rage 
" thrusteth forth his paw, and wounds the earth ;" but he, 
pupil-like, takes his correction mildly, and teaches resignation 
to his wife, whose lips this lesson would have better suited. 
The weakness and guilt, which cause revolutions unexpect- 
edly to prosper, are depicted by the poet in a masterly man- 
ner; and in this piece he draws up before us in succession 
the spectacle of the powers at work at such a period of rev- 
olution, a picture of a grandeur and depth scarcely to be 
fathomed. For no piece must be read so often as this, and 
in such close connection with the succeeding, that it may be 
thoroughly understood. Unadorned and without brilliancy 
of matter, it yet rewards patient industry all the more richly. 
To analyze the contents of the whole four pieces in a narra- 
tive, where the underlying motive should be seen entirely in 
Shakespeare's sense, would be a comprehensive work, and 
one of extraordinary fulness. Whoever has read them from 
the beginning of this Richard to the close of Henry V., with 
conscientious reflection upon every single point, appears to 
himself truly to have passed through an entire world. 

The poet, who has not allowed us fully to know the young 
king in his prosperity, unfolds his character the more fasci- 
natingly and minutely in his misfortune. As soon as with 
Bolingbroke's landing the turning-point in his fortune is ar- 
rived, just where we should have wished to see the powerful 
ruler, there stands conspicuously before us the kindly human 
nature, which was before obscured in prosperity and mirth, 
but even now is accompanied by weakness and want of sta- 
bility, the distinguishing feature of his character. He has 
always needed props, and strong props he has not endured ; 
he had sought them in climbing plants, which have pulled 
himself to the ground ; Gaunt and Norfolk he had alienated. 
For this reason, at the first moment of misfortune he falls 



32 RICHARD II. 

past recovery. As soon as the first intelligence of the defec- 
tion of his people arrives, he is pale and disheartened ; at the 
second message, which only threatens him with a new evil, 
he is submissive and ready for abdication and death. When 
Aumerle reminds him of his father York, he rouses himself 
once more, but as soon as he hears that even this last prop 
is broken, he curses his cousin for having led him forth " of 
that sweet way he was in to despair j" he renounces every 
comfort, every act ; he orders his troops to be discharged ; 
capable of no further effort, he will be reminded of none, and 
himself removes every temptation to it. A highly poetic 
brilliancy is cast upon the scenes of the humiliation and ruin 
of the romantic youth, whose fancy rises in sorrow and mis- 
fortune to a height which allows us to infer the strength 
of the intoxication with which he had before plunged into 
pleasure. The power which at that time had carried him 
beyond himself turns now with fearful force within, and the 
pleasure-loving man now finds enjoyment in suffering and 
sorrow, and a sweetness in despair. He calls himself at first 
the slave of a " kingly woe ;" subsequently, on the contrary, 
deprived of his throne, he will remain king of his griefs. The 
words and predictions of the basely injured Gaunt are now 
to be fulfilled upon the insulter of the dying man. That 
sentence finds its truth in Richard : 

" Woe doth the heavier sit 
Where it perceives it is but faintly borne." 

True in him is the word : 

" Light vanity, insatiate cormorant, 
Consuming means, soon preys upon itself." 

Richard marvelled in Gaunt's dying scene (act ii. sc. i) how 
the lips of the sick can play with words, but in the deathly 
sickness of his 0-^071 misery he learns how to fall still deep- 
er into this play of words and speculative thought. At the 
very first, in the beginning of his sufferings, he broods upon 



INTRODUCTION. 



IZ 



thoughts of graves and death j he wishes to let the fate of all 
fallen kings pass before his mind, and then (as if the words 
of the dying Gaunt were in his thoughts, when he said to 
him that a thousand flatterers sit within the small compass 
of his crown, wasting the land) he pictures to himself the im- 
age of the crown in sad contrast to his present position, as 
if within its hollow temples the antic death keeps his court, 
allowing the wearer of the crown " a breath, a little scene to 
monarchize." When he afterwards appears before his ene- 
rr^ies (act iii. sc. 3) a paroxysm of his kingly fancy exhibits 
him to the sneaking Northumberland with a show of power ; 
indeed this was now the moment for arresting with dignity 
and courage the yet undefined plot. But before Bolingbroke 
had declared any part, at a time when even in the presence 
of the weak York no one might omit the royal title before 
Richard's name without apology, suddenly and without any 
cause his wings hang wearied, he speaks himself of the sub- 
jection of the king ; and as he sees Aumerle weep, his lively 
fancy at once runs away with him to the borders of insanity: 
his words remind us in these scenes of the passionate mel- 
ancholy of Lear, which is the prelude to his madness. He 
asks whether they shall " play the wantons with their woes, 
and make some pretty match with shedding tears ? as thus ; 
— to drop them still upon one place, till they have fretted a 
pair of graves." Even here, it seems, we look back shudder- 
ingly from the midst of wretchedness and misery to that vain 
intercourse and waste of time in which Richard formerly 
lived with his companions. The play on words and the con- 
ceits in these scenes have been censured as inappropriate, 
but nowhere are they placed with so deep and true a pur- 
pose ; those whose whole intercourse consisted formerly in 
raillery and quibbling, speculate most naturally in such a 
position in an immoderate manner, and delight in exhausting 
an idea brought about by the force of circumstances. Rich- 
ard remembers that he is talking but idly, and remarks that 

C 



34 RICHARD II. 

they mock at him ; the worst is that Northumberland has 
heard his foolish words, and designates him to Bolingbroke 
as a frantic man. That which the rebels would not have 
ventured, the childish man, whom the feeling of being for- 
saken has quite cast down, offers of himself to them ; he 
himself designates first the danger which surrounds him, 
when in his half- insane words he calls Northumberland 
prince and Bolingbroke king ; in the ears of all, he gives 
himself and his inheritance into Bolingbroke's hands, even 
before any one had demanded it. In the scene also of the 
deposition, which accords excellently with the nature of the 
king and crowns the characteristic touches, we hear him rapt 
in the beautiful poetic images upon his misfortune, we see 
him burying himself in his sorrow with a kind of pleasure. 
He pictures to himself as in a drama the scene over which 
another would have passed quickly. Only when it shames 
him to read his own indictment, his proud nature breaks out 
yet once again ; and he perceives too late how miserably he 
had become a traitor to himself Later, too, when we see 
Richard on the way to prison and in prison, even in his res- 
ignation, he is ever employed in picturing his painful condi- 
tion to himself as still more painful, revelling, as it were, in 
his sorrow, and emptying the cup to the very dregs. He 
peoples the little space of his prison with his wild fancy, he 
studies how he may compare it to the world. An air of 
music drives him to reflect how he has here " the daintiness 
of ear to hear time broke in a disordered string," whilst "for 
the concord of his state and time he had no ear to hear his 
true time broke." He wasted time, which now wastes him ; 
and thus again in another melancholy simile he pictures 
himself as a clock, which time had made out of himself It 
is wise of the poet that, out of the different stories of Rich- 
ard's death, he chose that which exhibits him to us at the 
end in honourable strength, after he has allowed us also to 
perceive the attractive power of his amiability ; it is therefore 



INTRODUCTION. 



35 



not without esteem that we take our leave of the commiser- 
ated man. . . . 

But in what does the poet exhibit that good use of the 
crown which we extol in Bolingbroke ? The whole of Henry 
IV. must give an answer to this question ; but even in Rich- 
ard II. the reply is found. His whole path to the kingdom 
is a royal path, and scarcely has he reached it than he shows 
by the most striking contrast the difference between the king 
by nature and the king by mere inheritance. Before, when, 
bg,nished by Richard, he left the country, he left it like a 
king. After the death of his father and the plunder of his 
house, he returns unhesitatingly back from banishment, in 
defiance of his sentence, and lands poor and helpless on the 
forbidden shore. The discontented Percies, in league with 
him before his landing, hasten to him ; the steward of Wor- 
cester does so, not out of love for him, but for his outlawed 
brother. On the journey which Bolingbroke has to make 
with his friends, he flatters them with fair words and enter- 
tains them with sweet discourse, but not so as to sell himself 
to these helpers upon whom at the time he wholly depends, 
as Richard did to his favourites, who even wholly depended 
upon hitn. The possessionless man, who at the time has only 
thanks and promises for the future to give, is in earnest in 
his gratitude, without intending subsequently when he is king 
to concede to the helpers to the throne a position above the 
throne. The arrogance with which Northumberland^ "the 
ladder wherewithal the mounting Bolingbroke ascended the 
throne," is on a future day to appear against him, is fully 
foretold in that with which he prepared the way for him to 
the throne. He and his followers, in their active eagerness, 
alertness, and officiousness, form a contrast to Richard's for 
the most part inactive faint-hearted flatterers : they are the 
willing myrmidons of the rebellion who urge Bolingbroke as 
quickly forward as the followers of Richard check his better 
nature. It is the now smooth and flexible, now rough and 



36 RICHARD II. 

unfeeling Northumberland, who first speaks of Richard with 
the omission of his title ; it is he who repeats more solemnly 
and forcibly the oath of Bolingbroke that "his coming is but 
for his own ;" it is he who in the scene of deposition mali- 
ciously torments King Richard with the reading of his accu- 
sation ; it is he who would arbitrarily arrest the noble Car- 
lisle for high-treason after the outbreak of his feelings of 
right and his civic fidelity. But how noble throughout does 
Bolingbroke appear compared to this base instrument of his 
plans : he still humbly kneels to the poor Richard, and at least 
preserves the show of decorum, while Northumberland must 
be reminded of his bending knee by his excited king ; he for- 
bids the malicious tormentor, in the deposition scene, any 
further urging; he pardons the arrested Carlisle, whose invec- 
tives had been hurled in his very presence. He came before 
Richard prepared for a stormy scene, ready for a part of 
feigned humility ; but when Richard himself gives him the 
crown, it is perhaps only another kingly trait in his nature, it 
is certainly the act of a statesman, contrasting him far more 
advantageously than detrimentally with the tardy, self-forget- 
ful king, that he lays hold of the occasion so readily. No 
less skilfully had he, it must be admitted, prepared for it. 
Even before it becomes a personal question between him and 
Richard, he had begun, according to Percy's account, in the 
feeling of his greatness, to step somewhat higher than his orig- 
inal vow. He began to reform edicts and decrees, to abolish 
abuses, to win men by good measures and actions ; he erad- 
icated those hated favourites, he assumed to himself a pro- 
tectorate, and accustomed the people to see kingly acts 
emanating from him before he was a king. In this manner, 
when wish and capacity, desire and endowments for ruling, 
were evidenced in him, the insurrection had already burst 
forth before it showed itself in its true aspect. Cold and 
considerate compared to the fanciful, a profound statesman 
compared to the romanticist and the poet, a quick horseman 



INTRO D UCTION. 



37 



spurring the heavy overburdened Richard, bearing the mis- 
fortune of banishment with manly composure, and easing his 
nature by immediate search for redress, whilst Richard at the 
mere approach of misfortune immediately sinks, this man 
appears throughout as too unequal an adversary to the other 
for the good right on the one side to stand its ground against 
his superior gifts. If, intoxicated by his first success, he had 
not so far lost himself as to tread the path of John and Rich- 
ard III., and give the hints for the murder of the king (though 
only remote and indirect ones, which he endeavoured subse- 
quently to atone for by earnest repentance), we should con- 
sider Bolingbroke's path to the throne not guiltless, but much 
justified. His first appearance on the throne, in any case, 
casts Richard's knightly endowments deeply into the shade. 
The poet has here made excellent use of the corresponding 
history. The opening scene, which essentially exhibits to 
us Richard's conduct as a ruler, has in the fourth act a 
counterpart, which Shakespeare uses to exemplify Boling- 
broke's dissimilar conduct in a similar position. Aumerle is 
accused by four nobles of the murder of Gloster, as once 
Bolingbroke himself had accused Norfolk, whom he wishes 
now honourably to recall and to reinstate in his possessions. 
Only one takes the side of Aumerle, and this is the half- 
brother of King Richard, a suspicious security. Bolingbroke 
could have suffered Aumerle, the most avowed favourite of 
Richard, to fall by the sword of the four accusers, and could 
thus have removed an enemy, but he does it not. Yet more : 
a newly projected plot of Aumerle's is discovered to the king; 
the father himself is the accuser of the son ; the father 
himself protests earnestly against his pardon ; but the yet 
unconfirmed, illegitimate ruler scorns to shed the blood of 
relatives, a deed which cost Richard nothing. He pardons 
him ; not out of weakness, for he punishes the other conspir- 
ators with death ; he pardons him from humane and familiar 
motives, and schools him into a hero and a patriot. He does 



38 



RICHARD 11. 



as that gardener would have had the lawful king do j with 
wise discretion, he rules with mercy and justice, mildness and 
severity. And at the same time he behaves with that sure 
power and superiority which permits him to jest in that very 
scene, and to act with easy humour towards the zealous 
mother of York, when he has just discovered a conspiracy 
against his life. 

The group of characters in Richard II. is arranged very 
simply in harmony with the suggestions given. In contrast, 
to the incapable legitimate king and his helpless inactive 
followers stands the rising star of the thorough statesmanlike 
and royal usurper and his over -active adherents. In the 
struggle between right and merit stands Carlisle as the man 
of genuine loyalty, who knows no motive but fidelity and 
duty, who conceals not the truth from the lawful king, who 
ruins himself, and opposes unsparingly the shield of right to 
the usurper, who raises himself to power. Contrasted with 
him is the old York, whom Coleridge, in consequence of an 
incorrect apprehension of the character, has placed in a false 
opposition to Richard."* The true picture of such an agitated 
age would be missed if this character were wanting in it. He 
is the type of all political faint-heartedness, of neutrality, in 
times when partisanship is a duty, of that cowardly loyalty 
which turns to the strong and powerful. When Richard is 

* This is what Coleridge says of York : " There is scarcely any thing in 
Shakespeare in its degree more admirably drawn than York's character : 
his religious loyalty struggling with a deep grief and indignation at the 
king's follies ; his adherence to his word and faith, once given in spite of 
all, even the most natural, feelings. You see in him the weakness of old 
age, and the overwhelmingness of circumstances, for a time surmounting 
his sense of duty — the junction of both exhibited in his boldness in words 
and feebleness in immediate act ; and then again his effort to retrieve 
himself in abstract loyalty, even at the heavy price of the loss of his son. 
This species of accidental and adventitious weakness is brought into 
parallel with Richard's continually increasing energy of thought and 
as constantly diminishing power of acting ; and thus it is Richard that 
breathes a harmony and a relation into all the characters of the play." 



INTRODUCTION. 39 

still in his full power, he considers he has gone too far when 
he extols to the young king the virtues of his father. When 
Richard seizes the Lancastrian lands, his natural sense of 
right and his anxiety respecting his own property urges him 
to utter impressive warnings, but when the king makes him, 
the inoffensive one, his governor in England, he allows him- 
self to be appeased. Bolingbroke lands, and York sees 
through his project, and warns him not to take what he 
should not ; his integrity even here shows him the path 
which his weakness suffers him not to follow. He would like 
to serve the king and to discharge his duty to his lord, but 
he thinks also to have a duty of kinship and conscience 
respecting Bolingbroke's lawful claims to his inheritance. 
That he stood for the moment in the place of the king, he 
heeds not. Helpless what to do, he loses his head in unut- 
terable perplexity, but not his character. He will remain 
neutral. He sees the finger of God in the desertion of the 
people, and lets it be ; for Richard he has tears, few words, 
and no deeds. With loyalty such as this countries go to 
ruin, while they prosper at usurpations such as Bolingbroke's. 
But that this weakness of the weak can amount to a degree 
in which it becomes the most natural obduracy, and in which 
the cruelty of the usurper is guiltless when compared with it, 
Shakespeare has displayed in a truly masterly manner, when 
he suffers York to accuse his own son of high-treason, and to 
urge his death with pertinacity. He goes so far as to wish 
that the king may ill thrive if he grant any grace. In this 
trait conscientiousness and fidelity intermingle undistinguish- 
ably with the fear of seeing himself exposed and suspected. 
Such is servile loyalty ; under the rule of the weak it is weak 
and but a frail support, under that of the strong it is strong 
and an efficient trustworthy power. 




"See, see, King Richard doth himself appear!" 

(Aci iii. Scene 3.) 




V-11 



^ " 



f^ 

jr 





DRAMATIS PERSONM. 

King Richard the Second. 
John of Gaunt, "j 

Duke of Lancaster, f Uncles to the 
Edmund of Langley, i King. 

Duke of York, ) 

Henry, surnamed Bolingbroke, Duke 

of Hereford, Son to John of Gaunt, 

afterwards King Henry IV. 
Duke of Aumerle, Son to the Duke of 

York. 
Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk. 
Duke of Surrey. 
Earl of Salisbury. 
Lord Berkeley. 
Bushy, \ 

Bagot, J Servants to King Richard. 
Green, ) 

Earl of Northumberland. 
Henry Percy, s'urnamed Hotspur- his 

Son. 
Lord Ross. 
Lord Willoughby. 
Lord Fitzwater. 
Bishop of Carlisle. 
Abbot of Westminster. 
Lord Marshal. 
Sir Pierce of Exton. 
Sir Stephen Scroop. 
Captain of a Band of Welshmen,- 

Queen to King Richard. 
Duchess of York. 
Duchess of Gloster. 
Lady attending on the Queen. 

Lords, Heralds, Officers, Soldiers, Two 
Gardeners, Keeper, Messenger, Groom, 
and other Attendants. 

Scene : Dispersedly hi Ejiglaftd and 
Wales. 




ACT I. 

Scene I. Windsor. A Room in the Castle. 
Enter King Richard, attended, John of Gaunt, and other 

Nobles. 

King Richard. Old John of Gaunt, time-honour'd Lancaster, 
Hast thou, according to thy oath and band, 
Brought hither Henry Hereford, thy bold son, 
Here to make good the boisterous late appeal, 



44 RICHARD II. 

Which then our leisure would not let us hear, 
Against the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray ? 

Gaunt. I have, my liege. 

King Richard. Tell me, moreover, hast thou sounded him, 
If he appeal the duke on ancient malice. 
Or worthily, as a good subject should, lo 

On some known ground of treachery in him? 

Gaunt. As near as I could sift him on that argument. 
On some apparent danger seen in him, 
Aim'd at your highness, — no inveterate malice. 

King Richard. Then call them to our presence: face to 
face. 
And frowning brow to brow, ourselves will hear 
The accuser and the accused freely speak. — 

[Exeunt some Attendants. 
High-stomach'd are they both, and full of ire, 
In rage deaf as the sea, hasty as fire. 

Enter Attendants, with Bolingbroke and Norfolk. 

Bolingbroke. Many years of happy days befall 20 

My gracious sovereign, my most loving liege ! 

Norfolk. Each day still better other's happiness; 
Until the heavens, envying earth's good hap. 
Add an immortal title to your crown ! 

King Richard. We thank you both : yet one but flatters us, 
As well appeareth by the cause you come ; 
Namely, to appeal each other of high treason. — 
Cousin of Hereford, what dost thou object 
Against the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray.'' 

Bolingbroke. First, — heaven be the record to my speech ! — 
In the devotion of a subject's love, 30 

Tendering the precious safety of my prince, 
And free from other misbegotten hate. 
Come I appellant to this princely presence.— 
Now, Thomas Mowbray, do I turn to thee. 



ACT L SCENE I. 



45 



And mark my greeting well; for what I speak 

My body shall make good upon this earth, 

Or my divine soul answer it in heaven. 

Thou art a traitor and a miscreant; 

Too good to be so, and too bad to live, 40 

Since the more fair and crystal is the sky. 

The uglier seem the clouds that in it fly. 

Once more, the more to aggravate the note. 

With a foul traitor's name stuff I thy throat; 

And wish, — so please my sovereign, — ere I move, 

What my tongue speaks, my right-drawn sword may prove. 

Norfolk. Let not my cold words here accuse my zeal. 
'Tis not the trial of a woman's war, 
The bitter clamour of two eager tongues. 
Can arbitrate this cause betwixt us twain : 50 

The blood is hot that must be cool'd for this; 
Yet can I not of such tame patience boast 
As to be hush'd and nought at all to say. 
First, the fair reverence of your highness curbs me 
From giving reins and spurs to my free speech. 
Which else would post until it had return'd 
These terms of treason doubled down his throat. 
Setting aside his high blood's royalty, 
And let him be no kinsman to my liege, 
I do defy him, and I spit at him ; 60 

Call him a slanderous coward and a villain : 
Which to maintain I would allow him odds, 
And meet him, were I tied to run afoot 
Even to the frozen ridges of the Alps, 
Or any other ground inhabitable 
Where ever Englishman durst set his foot. 
Mean time, let this defend my loyalty. — ^' 

By all my hopes, most falsely doth he lie. 

Bolingbroke. Pale trembling coward, there I throw my 
gage, 



46 



RICHARD II. 



Disclaiming here the kindred of the king, 70 

And lay aside my high blood's royalty, 

Which fear, not reverence, makes thee to except. 

If guilty dread hath left thee so much strength 

As to take up mine honour's pawn, then stoop : 

By that and all the rites of knighthood else, 

Will I make good against thee, arm to arm. 

What I have spoken, or thou canst devise. 

JVorfolk. I take it up ; and by that sword I swear. 
Which gently laid my knighthood on my shoulder, 
I'll answer thee in any fair degree, 80 

Or chivalrous design of knightly trial : 
And when I mount, alive may I not light, 
If I be traitor or unjustly fight ! 

King Richard. What doth our cousin lay to Mowbray's 
charge? 
It must be great that can inherit us 
So much as of a thought of ill in him. 

Bolingbroke. Look, what I speak, my life shall prove it 
true : — 
That Mowbray hath receiv'd eight thousand nobles 
In name of lendings for your highness' soldiers, - 90 

The which he hath detain'd for lewd employments, y^ 
Like a false traitor and injurious villain. 
Besides, I say, and will in battle prove, 
Or here or elsewhere to the farthest verge 
That ever was survey'd by English eye, 
That all the treasons for these eighteen years 
Complotted and contrived in this land 
Fetch'd from false Mowbray their first head and spring. 
Further I say, — and further will maintain 
Upon his bad life to make all this good,— 
That he did plot the Duke of Gloster's death, loo 

Suggest his soon-believing adversaries. 
And consequently, like a traitor coward, 



ACT I. SCENE L 47 

Sluic'd out his innocent soul through streams of blood ; 

Which blood, like sacrificing Abel's, cries. 

Even from the tongueless caverns of the earth. 

To me for-justice and rough chastisement ; 

And, by the glorious worth of my descent, 

This arm shall do it, or this life be spent. 

Khig Richard. How high a pitch his resolution soars ! — 
Thomas of Norfolk, what say'st thou to this ? "o 

< Norfolk. O, let my sovereign turn away his face, 
And bid his ears a little while be deaf. 
Till I have told this slander of his blood. 
How God and good men hate so foul a- liar, -i 

King Richard. Mowbray, impartial are our eyes and ears : 
Were he my brother, nay, our kingdom's heir, 
As he is but my father's brother's son*. 
Now by my sceptre's awe I make a vow, 
Such neighbour nearness to our sacred blood 
Should nothing privilege him, nor partialize 120 

The unstooping firmness of my upright soul. 
He is our subject, Mowbray, so art thou ; 
Free speech and fearless I to thee allow. 

Norfolk.^ Then, Bolingbroke, as low as to thy heart. 
Through the false passage of thy throat, thou liest ! 
Three parts of that receipt I had for Calais 
Disburs'd I duly to his highness' soldiers ; 
The other part reserv'd I by consent, 
For that my sovereign liege was in my debt 
Upon remainder of a dear account, 130 

Since last I went to France to fetch his queen : 
Now swallow down that lie. For Gloster's death, 
I slew him not \ but to mine own disgrace 
Neglected my sworn duty in that case. 
For you, my noble Lord of Lancaster, 
The honourable father to my foe, 
Once did I lay an ambush for your life, 



48 RICHARD JL 

A trespass that doth vex my grieved soul : 

But ere I last receiv'd the sacrament 

I did confess it, and exactly begg'd 140 

Your grace's pardon, and I hope I had it. 

This is my fault : as for the rest appealed. 

It issues from the rancour of a villain, 

A recreant and most degenerate traitor ; 

Which in myself I boldly will defend. 

And interchangeably hurl down my gage 

Upon this overweening traitor's foot. 

To prove myself a loyal gentleman 

Even in the best blood chamber'd in his bosom. 

In haste whereof, most heartily I pray iso 

Your highness to assign our trial day. 

King Richard. Wrath-kindled gentlemen, be rul'd by me; 
Let's purge this choler without letting blood. 
This we prescribe, though no physician ; 
Deep malice makes too deep incision : 
Forget, forgive ; conclude, and be agreed ; 
Our doctors say this is no time to bleed. — 
Good uncle, let this end where it begun ; 
We'll calm the Duke of Norfolk, you your son. 

Gaunt. To be a make-peace shall become my age. — i6o 
Throw down, my son, the Duke of Norfolk's gage. 

King Richard. And, Norfolk, throw down his. 

Gaimt. When, Harry, when ? 

Obedience bids I should not bid again. 

King Richard. Norfolk, throw down, we bid ; there is no 
boot. 

Norfolk. Myself I throw, dread sovereign, at thy foot. 
My life thou shalt command, but not my shame : 
The one my duty owes ; but my fair name. 
Despite of death that lives upon my grave. 
To dark dishonour's use thou shalt not have. 
I am disgrac'd, impeach'd, and baffled here, 170 



ACT I. SCENE I. 



49 



Pierc'd to the soul with slander's venom 'd spear, 
The which no balm can cure but his heart-blood 
Which breath'd this poison. 

King Richard. ' Rage must be withstood. 

Give me his gage : — lions make leopards tame. 

Norfolk. Yea, but not change his spots : take but my 
shame, 
And I resign my gage. My dear dear lord, 
The purest treasure mortal times afford 
Is spotless reputation ; that away, 
Men are but gilded loam or painted clay. 
A jewel in a ten-times-barr'd-up chest i8o 

Is a bold spirit in a loyal breast. 
Mine honour is my life ; both grow in one : 
Take honour from me, and my life is done. 
Then, dear my liege, mine honour let me try; 
In that I live, and for that will I die. 

King Richard. Cousin, throw down your gage ; do you 
begin. 

Bolingbroke. O, God defend my soul from such foul sin ! 
Shall I seem crest-fallen in my father's sight ? 
Or with pale beggar-fear impeach my height 
Before this outdar'd dastard ? Ere my tongue 190 

Shall wound -mine honour with such feeble wrong, 
Or sound so base a parle, my teeth shall tear 
The slavish motive of recanting fear. 
And spit it bleeding in his high disgrace. 
Where shame doth harbour, even in Mowbray's face ! 

\^Exit Gaunt. 

King Richard. We were not born to sue, but to command ; 
Which since we cannot do to make you friends, 
Be ready, as your lives shall answer it. 
At Coventry, upon Saint Lambert's day. 
There shall your swords and lances arbitrate 200 

The swelling difference of your settled hate : 

D 



so 



RICHARD II. 



Since, we cannot atone you, you shall see 
Justice design the victor's chivalry. — 
Lord marshal, command our officers at arms 
Be ready to direct these home alarms. 



\Exeunt. 




"Finds brotherhood in thee no sharper spur?" 

{^Act i. Scene 2.) 




THE SAVOY, THE DUKE OF LANCASTER'S PALACE. 



Scene II. Londofi. A Room in the Duke of Lancaster's 

Palace. 

Enter Gaunt and Duchess of Gloster. 

Gaunt. Alas ! the part I had in Gloster's blood 
Doth more solicit me than your exclaims, 
To stir against the butchers of his life. 
But since correction lieth in those hands 
Which made the fault that we cannot correct, 
Put we our quarrel to the will of heaven ; 
Who, when they see the hours ripe on earth, 
Will rain hot vengeance on offenders' heads. 

Duchess. Finds brotherhood in thee no sharper spur ? 
Hath love in thy old blood no living fire ? «> 



52 



RICHARD II. 



Edward's seven sons, whereof thyself art one, 

Were as seven vials of his sacred blood, 

Or seven fair branches springing from one root. 

Some of those seven are dried by nature's course, 

Some of those branches by the Destinies cut ; 

But Thomas, my dear lord, my life, my Gloster, 

One vial full of Edward's sacred blood. 

One flourishing branch of his most royal root. 

Is crack'd, and all the precious liquor spilt. 

Is hack'd down, and his summer leaves all faded, 20 

By envy's hand and murder's bloody axe. 

Ah, Gaunt, his blood was thine ! that bed, that womb, U 

That metal, that self-mould, that fashion'd thee, 

Made him a man ; and though thou liv'st and breath'st. 

Yet art thou slain in him : thou dost consent 

In some large measure to thy father's death, 

In that thou seest thy wretched brother die. 

Who was the model of thy father's life. 

Call it not patience, Gaunt ; it is despair : 

In suffering thus thy brother to be slaughter'd, .30 

Thou show'st the naked pathway to thy life. 

Teaching stern murther how to butcher thee. 

That which in mean men we entitle patience. 

Is pale cold cowardice in nobler breasts. 

What shall I say ? to safeguard thine own life, 

The best way is to venge my Gloster's death. 

Gaunt. God's is the quarrel ; for God's substitute. 
His deputy anointed in His sight, 
Hath caus'd his death ; the which, if wrongfully. 
Let heaven revenge, for I may never lift 40 

An angry arm against His minister. 

Duchess. Where, then, alas, may I complain myself? 

Gaunt. To God, the widow's champion and defence. 

Duchess. Why, then, I will. Farewell, old Gaunt. 
Thou go'st to Coventry, there to behold 



ACT I. SCENE II. 53 

Our cousin Hereford and fell Mowbray fight 

O, sit my husband's wrongs on Hereford's spear, 

That it may enter butcher Mowbray's breast ! 

Or, if misfortune miss the first career, 

Be Mowbray's sins so heavy in his bosom so 

That they may break his foaming courser's back. 

And throw the rider headlong in the lists, 

A caitiff recreant to my cousin Hereford ! 

Farewell, old Gaunt j thy sometimes brother's wife 

With her companion grief must end her life. 

Gaunt. Sister, farewell ; I must to Coventry. 
As much good stay with thee as go with me ! 

Duchess. Yet one word more. — Grief boundeth where it 
falls, 
Not with the empty hollowness, but weight : 
I take my leave before I have begun, 60 

For sorrow ends not when it seemeth done. 
Commend me to my brother, Edmund York. 
Lo, this is all : — nay, yet depart not so ; 
Though this be all, do not so quickly go ; 
I shall remember more. Bid him — O, what ? — 
With all good speed at Flashy visit me. 
Alack ! and what shall good old York there see 
But empty lodgings and unfurnish'd walls, 
Unpeopled offices, untrodden stones ? 

And what hear there for welcome but my groans ? 70 

Therefore commend me ; let him not come there 
To seek our sorrow that dwells every where. 
Desolate, desolate, will I hence, and die : 
The last leave of thee takes my weeping eye. \Exeunt. 



54 RICHARD II. 

Scene III. Gosford Green, near Coventry. 

Lists set out, and a throne. Heralds, etc., attending. Enter 
the Lord Marshal aiid Aumerle. 

Marshal. My Lord Aumerle, is Harry Hereford arm'd ? 

Aumerle. Yea, at all points, and longs to enter in. 

Marshal. The Duke of Norfolk, sprightfully and bold, 
Stays but the summons of the appellant's trumpet. 

Aumerle. Why, then, the champions are prepar'd, and stay 
For nothing but his majesty's approach. 

Flourish of tru^npets. Enter King Richard, who takes his 
seat on his throne ; Gaunt, Bushy, Bagot, Green, and 
others, who take their places. A trumpet is souiided, and 
answered by another trumpet within. Then enter Norfolk 
in armour, preceded by a Herald. 

King Richard. Marshal, demand of yonder champion 
The cause of his arrival here in arms : 
Ask him his name, and orderly proceed 
To swear him in the justice of his cause. lo 

Marshal In God's name and the king's, say who thou art, 
And why thou com'st thus knightly clad in arms ; 
Against what man thou com'st, and what's thy quarrel. 
Speak truly, on thy knighthood and thine oath ; 
As so defend thee heaven and thy valour ! 

Norfolk. My name is Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk ; 
Who hither come engaged by my oath, — 
Which God defend a knight should violate ! — 
Both to defend my loyalty and truth 

To God, my king, and his succeeding issue, 20 

Against the Duke of Hereford that appeals me ; 
And, by the grace of God and this mine arm, 
To prove him, in defending of myself, 
A traitor to my God, my king, and me : 
And as I truly fight, defend me heaven ! 



ACT I. SCENE III. 55 

Trumpets sound. Enter Bolingbroke in armour, preceded 

by a Herald. 

King Richard, Marshal, ask yonder knight in arms, 
Both who he is, and why he cometh hither 
Thus plated in habiliments of war ; 
And formally, according to our law, 
Depose him in the justice of his cause. 3° 

Marshal. What is thy name ? and wherefore com'st thou 
hither. 
Before King Richard in his royal lists ? 
Against whom comest thou ? and what's thy quarrel ? 
Speak like a true knight, so defend thee heaven ! 

Bolingbroke. Harry of Hereford, Lancaster, and Derby, 
Am I ; who ready here do stand in arms, 
To prove, by God's grace and my body's valour, 
In lists, on Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, 
That he 's a traitor, foul and dangerous, 
To God of heaven. King Richard, and to me : 40 

And as I truly fight, defend me heaven ! 

Marshal. On pain of death, no person be so bold 
Or daring hardy as to touch the lists. 
Except the marshal and such officers 
Appointed to direct these fair designs. 

Bolingbroke. Lord marshal, let me kiss my sovereign's, 
hand. 
And bow my knee before his majesty : 
For Mowbray and myself are like two men 
That vow a long and weary pilgrimage ; 
Then let us take a ceremonious leave so 

And loving farewell of our several friends. 

Marshal. The appellant in all duty greets your highness, 
And craves to kiss your hand and take his leave. 

King Richard. We will descend and fold him in our arms. — 
Cousin of Hereford, as thy cause is right, 



56 RICHARD II. 

So be thy fortune in this royal fight ! 
Farewell, my blood ; which if to-day thou shed, 
Lament we may, but not revenge thee dead. 

Bolingbroke. O, let no noble eye profane a tear 
For me, if I be gor'd with Mowbray's spear : 60 

As confident as is the falcon's flight 
Against a bird, do I with Mowbray fight. — 
My loving lord, I take my leave of you ; — 
Of you, my noble cousin. Lord Aumerle ; 
Not sick, although I have to do with death, 
But lusty, young, and cheerly drawing breath. — 
Lo, as at English feasts, so I regreet 
The daintiest last, to make the end more sweet : 
O thou, the earthly author of my blood, — \To Gaunt 

Whose youthful spirit, in me regenerate, 70 

Doth with a twofold vigour lift me up 
To reach at victory above my head, — 
Add proof unto mine armour with thy prayers; 
And with thy blessings steel my lance's point, 
That it may enter Mowbray's waxen coat. 
And furbish new the name of John o' Gaunt, 
Even in the lusty haviour of his son. 

Gaunt. God in thy good cause make thee prosperous ! 
Be swift like lightning in the execution; 
And let thy blows, doubly redoubled, 80 

Fall like amazing thunder on the casque 
Of thy adverse pernicious enemy : 
Rouse up thy youthful blood, be valiant and live. 

Bolingbroke. Mine innocence and Saint George to thrive ! 

Norfolk. However God or fortune cast my lot. 
There lives or dies, true to King Richard's throne, 
A loyal, just, and upright gentleman. 
Never did captive with a freer heart 
Cast off his chains of bondage, and embrace 
His golden uncontroll'd enfranchisement, 90 



ACT I. SCENE III. c'j 

More than my dancing soul doth celebrate 
This feast of battle with mine adversary. — 
Most mighty liege, — and my companion peers, — 
Take from my mouth the wish of happy years : 
As gentle and as jocund as to jest 
Go I to fight ; truth hath a quiet breast. 

Xing Richard. Farewell, my lord : securely I espy 
Virtue with valour couched in thine eye. — 
Order the trial, marshal, and begin. 

Marshal. Harry of Hereford, Lancaster, and Derby, loo 
Receive thy lance \ and God defend the right ! 

Bolingbroke. Strong as a tower in hope, I cry amen. 

Marshal. Go bear this lance \to an Officer'] to Thomas, 
Duke of Norfolk. 

1 Herald. Harry of Hereford, Lancaster, and Derby, 
Stands here for God, his sovereign, and himself, 

On pain to be found false and recreant. 

To prove the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray, 

A traitor to his God, his king, and him ; 

And dares him to set forward to the fieht. 

2 Herald. Here standeth Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Nor- 

folk, 
On pain to be found false and recreant, 
Both to defend himself, and to approve 
Henry of Hereford, Lancaster, and Derby, 
To God, his sovereign, and to him disloyal ; 
Courageously, and with a free desire, 
Attending but the signal to begin. 

Marshal Sound, trumpets ; and set forward, combatants. 

\A. charge sounded. 
Stay ! the king hath thrown his warder down. 
King Richard. Let them lay by their helmets and their 
spears. 
And both return back to their chairs again. 120 

Withdraw with us ; and let the trumpets sound 



58 



RICHARD II. 



While we return these dukes what we decree. — 

\A long flourish. 
Draw near, \_To the combatants. 

And list what with our council we 'have done. 
For that our kingdom's earth should not be soil'd 
With that dear blood which it hath fostered ; 
And for our eyes do hate the dire aspect 
Of civil wounds plough'd up with neighbours' swords ; 
And for we think the eagle-winged pride 
Of sky-aspiring and ambitious thoughts, • 130 

With rival-hating envy, set on you 
To wake our peace, which in our country's cradle 
Draws the sweet infant breath of gentle sleep ; 
Which so rous'd up with boisterous untun'd drums,- 
With harsh-resounding trumpets' dreadful bray. 
And grating shock of wrathful iron arms, 
Might from our quiet confines fright fair peace. 
And make us wade even in our kindred's blood ; — 
Therefore, we banish you our territories : — 
You, cousin Hereford, upon pain of life, 140 

Till twice five summers have enrich'd our fields 
Shall not regreet our fair dominions. 
But tread the stranger paths of banishment. 

BoliJigbroke. Your will be done : this must my comfort be, — 
That sun that warms you here shall shine on me ; 
And those his golden beams to you here lent 
Shall point on me and gild my banishment. 

Kmg Richard. Norfolk, for thee remains a heavier doom. 
Which I with some unwillingness pronounce : 
The fly-slow hours shall not determinate iso 

The dateless limit of thy dear exile ; — 
The hopeless word of ' never to return ' 
Breathe I against thee, upon pain of life. 

Norfolk. A heavy sentence, my most gracious liege, 
And all unlook'd for from your highness' mouth : 



ACT I. SCENE III, 59 

A dearer merit, not so deep a maim 

As to be cast forth in the common air, 

Have I deserved at your highness' hands. 

The language I have learn'd these forty years, 

My native English, now I must forego : i6o 

And now my tongue's use is to me no more 

Than an unstringed viol or a harp ; 

Or like a cunning instrument cas'd up, 

'Or, being open, put into his hands 

That knows no touch to tune the harmony. 

Within my mouth you have engaol'd my tongue, 

Doubly portcullis'd with my teeth and lips; 

And dull, unfeeling, barren ignorance 

Is made my gaoler to attend on me. 

I am too old to fawn upon a nurse, 17° 

Too far in years to be a pupil now : 

What is thy sentence, then, but speechless death. 

Which robs my tongue from breathing native breath ? 

King Richard. It boots thee not to be compassionate : 
After our sentence plaining comes too late. 

Norfolk, Then thus I turn me from my country's light, 
To dwell in solemn shades of endless night. [Retiring. 

King Richard. J^Qtmn again, and take an oath with thee. 
Lay on our royal sword your banish'd hands ; 
Swear by the duty that you owe to God, — 180 

Our part therein we banish with yourselves, — 
To keep the oath that we administer : 
* You never shall — so help you truth and God !— 
Embrace each other's love in banishment ; 
Nor ever look upon each other's face ; 
Nor ever write, regreet, nor reconcile 
This lowering tempest of your home-bred hate ; 
Nor ever by advised purpose meet 
To plot, contrive, or complot any ill 
'Gainst us, our state, our subjects, or our land. 19c 



6o RICHARD II. 

Bolingbroke. I swear. 

Norfolk. And I, to keep all this. 

Bolingbroke. Norfolk, so far as to mine enemy ; — 
By this time, had the king permitted us, 
One of our souls had wander'd in the air, 
Banish'd this frail sepulchre of our flesh, 
As now our flesh is banish'd from this land : 
Confess thy treasons ere thou fly the realm ; 
Since thou hast far to go, bear not along 
The clogging burthen of a guilty soul. 200 

Norfolk. No, Bolingbroke : if ever I were traitor. 
My name be blotted from the book of life, 
And I from heaven banish'd, as from hence ! 
But what thou art, God, thou, and I do know. 
And all too soon, I fear, the king shall rue. — 
Farewell, my liege. — Now no way can I stray : 
Save back to England, all the world's my way. \Exit. 

King Richard. Uncle, even in the glasses of thine eyes 
I see thy grieved heart : thy sad aspect 
Hath from the number of his banish'd years. 210 

Pluck'd four away. — \To Bolingbroke] Six frozen winters 

spent. 
Return with welcome home from banishment. 

Bolingbroke. How long a time lies in one little word ! 
Four lagging winters and four wanton springs 
End in a word : such is the breath of kings. 

Gaunt. I thank my liege that in regard of me 
He shortens four years of my son's exile : 
But little vantage shall I reap thereby ; 
For, ere the six years that he hath to spend 
Can change their moons and bring their times about, 220 

My oil-dried lamp and time-bewasted light 
Shall be extinct with age and endless night ; 
My inch of taper will be burnt and done. 
And blindfold death not let me see my son. 



ACT /. SCENE III. 6 1 

King Richard. Why, uncle, thou hast many years to live. 

Gaunt. But not a minute, king, that thou canst give : 
Shorten my days thou canst with sudden sorrow, 
And pluck nights from me, but not lend a morrow ; 
Thou canst help time to furrow me with age, 
But stop no wrinkle in his pilgrimage ; 230 

Thy word is current with him for my death, 
But dead, thy kingdom cannot buy my breath. 

King Richard. Thy son is banish'd upon good advice, 
Whereto thy tongue a party-verdict gave : 
Why at our justice seem'st thou, then, to lower? 

Gaunt. Things sweet to taste prove in digestion sour. 
You urg'd me as a judge ; but I had rather 
You would have bid me argue like a father. 
O, had it been a stranger, not my child, . 
To smooth his fault I should have been more mild : 240 

A partial slander sought I to avoid, 
And in the sentence my own life destroy'd. 
Alas ! I look'd when some of you should say, 
I was too strict, to make mine own away ; 
But you gave leave to mine unwilling tongue 
Against my will to do myself this wrong. 

King Richard. Cousin, farewell ; — and, uncle, bid him so : 
Six years we banish him, and he shall go. 

[Flourish. Exeunt King Richard and Train. 

Aumerle. Cousin, farewell : what presence must not know. 
From where you do remain let paper show. 250 

Marshal. My lord, no leave take I ; for I will ride 
As far as land will let me by your side. 

Gaunt. O, to what purpose dost thou hoard thy words. 
That thou return'st no greeting to thy friends ? 

Bolingbroke. I have too few to take my leave of you. 
When the tongue's office should be prodigal 
To breathe the abundant dolour of the heart. 

Gaimt. Thy grief is but thy absence for a time. 



62 RICHARD 11. 

Bolingbroke. Joy absent, grief is present for that time. 

Gaunt. What is six winters ? they are quickly gone. 260 

Bolingbroke. To men in joy ; but grief makes one hour ten. 

Gaunt. Call it a travel that thou tak'st for pleasure. 

Bolingbroke. My heart will sigh when I miscall it so, 
Which finds it an enforced pilgrimage. 

Gaunt. The sullen passage of thy weary steps 
Esteem a foil, wherein thou art to set 
The precious jewel of thy home-return. 

Bolingbroke. Nay, rather, every tedious stride I make 
Will but remember me what a deal of world 
I wander from the jewels that I love. 270 

Must I not serve a long apprenticehood 
To foreign passages, and in the end, 
Having my freedom, boast of nothing else 
But that I was a journeyman to grief.'' 

Gaunt. All places that the eye of heaven visits 
Are to a wise man ports and happy havens. 
Teach thy necessity to reason thus : 
There is no virtue like necessity ; 
Think not the king did banish thee, 

But thou the king ; woe doth the heavier sit 280 

Where it perceives it is but faintly borne. 
Go, say I sent thee forth to purchase honour, 
And not the king exil'd thee ; or suppose 
Devouring pestilence hangs in our air. 
And thou art flying to a fresher clime. 
Look, what thy soul holds dear, imagine it 
To lie that way thou go'st,trot whence thou com'st : 
Suppose the singing-birds musicians. 
The grass whereon thou tread'st the presence strew'd, 
The flowers fair ladies, and thy steps no more 290 

Than a delightful measure or a dance ; 
For gnarling sorrow hath less power to bite 
The man that mocks at it and sets it light. 



ACT I. SCENE IV. 



^?. 



Bolingbroke. O, who can hold a fire in his hand 
By thinking on the frosty Caucasus ?. 
Or cloy the hungry edge of appetite 
By bare imagination of a feast ? 
Or wallow naked in December snow 
By thinking on fantastic summer's heat? 
O, no ! the apprehension of the good s^o 

Gives but the greater feeling to the worse : 
Fell sorrow's tooth doth never rankle more 
Than when it bites, but lanceth not the sore. 

Gaunt. Come, come, my son, I'll bring thee on thy way : 
Had I thy youth and cause, I would not stay. 

Bolingbroke. Then, England's ground, farewell : sweet soil, 
adieu; 
My mother, and my nurse, that bears me yet ! 
Where'er I wander, boast of this I can, — 
Though banish'd, yet a true-born Englishman. \Exeujit. 

Scene IV. The Court. 

Enter King Richard, Bagot, and Green ; Aumerle 

following. 

King Richard. We did observe. — Cousin Aumerle, 
How far brought you high Hereford on his way ? 

Aumerle. I brought high Hereford, if you call him so, 
But to the next highway, and there I left him. 

King Richard. And say, what store of parting tears were 
shed ? 

Aumerle. Faith, none for me ; except the north-east wind, 
Which then blew bitterly against our faces, 
Awak'd the sleeping rheum, and so by chance 
Did grace our hollow parting with a tear. 

Kiiig Richard. What said our cousin when you parted with 
him ? lo 

Aumerle. ' Farewell :' 



64 RICHARD II. 

And, for my heart disdained that my tongue 

Should so profane the word, that taught me craft 

To counterfeit oppression of such grief, 

That words seem'd buried in my sorrow's grave. 

Marry, would the word 'farewell' have lengthen'd hours, 

And added years to his short banishment, 

He should have had a volume of farewells ; 

But since it would not, he had none of me. 

King Richard. He is our cousin, cousin ; but 'tis doubt, 20 
When time shall call him home from banishment, 
Whether our kinsman come to see his friends. 
Ourself, and Bushy, Bagot here, and Green, 
Observ'd his courtship to the common people ; 
How he did seem to dive into their hearts 
With humble and familiar courtesy ; 
What reverence he did throw away on slaves, 
Wooing poor craftsmen with the craft of smiles, 
And patient underbearing of his fortune. 
As 'twere to banish their affects with him. 30 

Off goes his bonnet to an oyster-wench ; 
A brace of draymen bid God speed him well. 
And had the tribute of his supple knee. 
With, ' Thanks, my Countrymen, my loving friends ;' 
As were our England in reversion his. 
And he our subjects' next degree in hope. 

Green, Well, he is gone ; and with him go these thoughts. 
Now for the rebels which stand out in Ireland ; 
Expedient manage must be made, my liege. 
Ere further leisure yield them further means 40 

For their advantage and your highness' loss. 

King Richard. We will ourself in person to this war : 
And, for our coffers, with too great a court 
And liberal largess, are grown somewhat light. 
We are enforc'd to farm our royal realm ; 
The revenue whereof shall furnish us 



ACT I. SCENE IV. 



65 



For our affairs in hand. If that come short, 

Our substitutes at home shall have blank charters \ 

Whereto, when they shall know what men are rich, 

They shall subscribe them for large sums of gold, so 

And send them after to supply our wants ; 

For we will make for Ireland presently. 

E?iter Bushy. 

Bushy, what news .? 

Bushy. Old John of Gaunt is very sick, my lord, 
Suddenly taken ; and hath sent post-haste 
To entreat your majesty to visit him. 

King Richard. Where lies he '^. 

Bushy. At Ely House. 

King Richard. Now put it, God, in his physician's mind 
To help him to his grave immediately ! 60 

The lining of his coffers shall make coats 
To deck our soldiers for these Irish wars. — 
Come, gentlemen, let 's all go visit him : 
Pray God we may make haste, and come too late ! [Exeunt. 





ARMS OF RICHARD II. 



E 




BERKELEY CASTLE (sCENE III.) 



ACT 11. 

Scene I. Lofido?i. A Room in Ely House. 

Gaunt on a couch ; the Duke of York and others standing 

by him. 

Gaunt. Will the king come, that I may breathe my last 
Tn wholesome counsel to his unstaid youth ? 

York. Vex not yourself, nor strive not with your breath ; 
For all in vain comes counsel to his ear. 

Gaunt. O, but they say the tongues of dying men 
Enforce attention like deep harmony : 
Where words are scarce, they are seldom spent in vain ; 



ACT II. SCENE I. 



67 



For they breathe truth that breathe their words in pain. 

He that no more must say is listen'd more 

Than they whom youth and ease have taught to glose ; 10 

More are men's ends mark'd than their lives before. 

The setting sun, and music at the close, 

As the last taste of sweets, is sweetest last, 

Writ in remembrance more than things long past. 

Though Richard my life's counsel would not hear, 

My death's sad tale may yet undeaf his ear. 

York. No ; it is stopp'd with other flattering sounds, 
As praises of his state ; then, there are found 
Lascivious metres, to whose venom sound 
The open ear of youth doth always listen ; 20 

Report of fashions in proud Italy, 
Whose manners still our tardy apish nation 
Limps after, in base imitation. 
Where doth the world thrust forth a vanity — 
So it be new, there's no respect how vile — 
That is not quickly buzz'd into his ears ? 
Then all too late comes counsel to be heard, 
Where will doth mutiny with wit's regard. 
Direct not him whose way himself will choose : 
'Tis breath thou lack'st, and that breath wilt thou lose. 30 

Gaunt. Methinks I am a prophet new inspir'd, 
And thus, expiring, do foretell of him : 
His rash fierce blaze of riot cannot last. 
For violent fires soon burn out themselves; 
Small showers last long, but sudden storms are short ; 
He tires betimes that spurs too fast betimes ; 
With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder : ^ 

Light vanity, insatiate cormorant. 
Consuming means, soon preys upon itself. 
This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle, 40 

This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, 
This other Eden, demi-paradise ; 



^S RICHARD IT. 

This fortress built by Nature for herself 

Against infection and the hand of war ; 

This happy breed of men, this little world, 

This precious stone set in the silver sea, 

Which serves it in the office of a wall, 

Or as a moat defensive to a house. 

Against the envy of less happier lands ; 

This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England, 50 

This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings, 

Fear'd by their breed, and famous by their birth, 

Renowned for their deeds as far from home. 

For Christian service and true chivalry. 

As is the sepulchre in stubborn Jewry 

Of the world's ransom, blessed Mary's Son : 

This land of such dear souls, this dear dear land, 

Dear for her reputation through the world. 

Is now leas'd out — I die pronouncing it — 

Like to a tenement or pelting farm. 60 

England, bound in with the triumphant sea. 

Whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege 

Of watery Neptune, is now bound in with shame, 

With inky blots and rotten parchment bonds : 

That England, that was wont to conquer others. 

Hath made a shameful conquest of itself. 

Ah, would the scandal vanish with my life. 

How happy then were my ensuing death ! 

Enter King Richard and Queen, Aumerle, Bushy, Green, 
Bagot, Ross, and Willoughby. 

York. The king is come : deal mildly with his youth ; 
For young hot colts, being rag'd, do rage the more. 7° 

Qt/een. How fares our noble uncle, Lancaster.'' 
J^mg- Richard. What comfort, man ? How is't with aged 

Gaunt ? 
Gaunt. O, how that name befits my composition ! 



ACT 11. SCENE I. 69 

Old Gaunt, indeed; and gaunt in being old : 

Within me grief hath kept a tedious fast ; 

And who abstains from meat that is not gaunt ? 

For sleeping England long time have I watch'd ; 

Watching breeds leanness, leanness is all gaunt : 

The pleasure that some fathers feed upon 

Is my strict fast, — I mean my children's looks ; 80 

And therein fasting hast thou made me gaunt. 

Gaunt am I for the grave, gaunt as a grave, 

Whose hollow womb inherits nought but bones. 

King Richard. Can sick men play so nicely with their 
names ? 

Gaunt. No, misery makes sport to mock itself: 
Since thou dost seek to kill my name in me, 
I mock my name, great king, to flatter thee. 

King Richard. Should dying men flatter with those that 
live ? 

Gaunt. No, no ; men living flatter those that die. 

King Richard. Thou, now a-dying, say'st thou flatter'st 
me. 90 

Gaunt. O, no ! thou diest, though I the sicker be. 

Kiftg Richard. I am in health, I breathe, and see thee ill. 

Gaunt. Now, He that made me knows I see thee ill ; 
111 in myself to see, and in thee seeing ill. 
Thy death-bed is no lesser than the land 
Wherein thou liest in reputation sick ; 
And thou, too careless patient as thou art, 
Committ'st thy anointed body to the cure 
Of those physicians that first wounded thee. 
A thousand flatterers sit within thy crown, loo 

Whose compass is no bigger than thy head ; 
And yet, encaged in so small a verge. 
The waste is no whit lesser than thy land. 
O, had thy grandsire, with a prophet's eye, 
Seen how his son's son should destroy his sons, 



70 RICHARD II. 

From forth thy reach he would have laid thy shame, 

Deposing thee before thou wert possess'd, 

Which art possess'd now to depose thyself. 

Why, cousin, wert thou regent of the world, 

It were a shame to let this land by lease ; no 

But for thy world enjoying but this land, 

Is it not more than shame to shame it so ? 

Landlord of England art thou, and not king : 

Thy state of law is bondslave to the law ; 

And 

King Richard. And thou a lunatic lean-witted fool, 
Presuming on an ague's privilege, 
Dar'st with thy frozen admonition 
Make pale our cheek, chasing the royal blood 
With fury from his native residence. 

Now by my seat's right royal majesty, 120 

Wert thou not brother to great Edward's son. 
This tongue that runs so roundly in thy head 
Should run thy head from thy unreverent shoulders. 

Gaunt. O, spare me not, my brother Edward's son, 
For that I was his father Edward's son ; 
That blood already, like the pelican. 
Hast thou tapp'd out, and drunkenly carous'd. 
My brother Gloster, plain well-meaning soul — 
Whom fair befall in heaven 'mongst happy souls ! — 
May be a precedent and witness good 130 

That thou respect'st not spilling Edward's blood. 
Join with the present sickness that I have, 
And thy unkindness be like crooked age. 
To crop at once a too-long wither'd flower. 
Live in thy shame, but die not shame with thee ! 
These words hereafter thy tormentors be ! — 
Convey me to my bed, then to my grave : 
Love they to live that love and honour have. 

\Exit^ borne out by his Attendants. 



ACT II. SCENE I 71 

King Richard. And let them die that age and sullens have ; 
For both hast thou, and both become the grave. 140 

York. I do beseech your majesty, impute his words 
To wayward sickliness and age in him : 
He loves you, on my life, and holds you dear 
As Harry, Duke of Hereford, were he here. 

King Richard. Right, you say true : as Hereford's love, so 
his ; 
As theirs, so mine ; and all be as it is. 

Enter Northumberland. 

Northumberland. My liege, old Gaunt commends him to 
your majesty. 

King Richard. What says he ? 

Northumberland. Nay, nothing j all is said. 

His tongue is now a stringless instrument; 
Words, life, and all, old Lancaster hath spent. 15° 

York. Be York the next that must be bankrupt so ! 
Though death be poor, it ends a mortal woe. 

King Richard. The ripest fruit first falls, and so doth he ; 
His time is spent, our pilgrimage must be : 
So much for that. — Now for our Irish wars : 
We must supplant those rough rug-headed kerns, 
Which live like venom, where no venom else. 
But only they, have privilege to live. 
And for these great affairs do ask some charge, 
Towards our assistance we do seize to us 160 

The plate, coin, revenues, and movables, ' 
Whereof our uncle Gaunt did stand possess'd. 

York. How long shall I be patient ? ah, how long 
Shall tender duty make me suffer wrong.? 
Not Gloster's death, nor Hereford's banishment. 
Not Gaunt's rebukes, nor England's private wrongs, 
Nor the prevention of poor Bolingbroke 
About his marriage, nor my own disgrace, 



72 



RICHARD II. 



Have ever made me sour my patient cheek, 

Or bend one wrinkle on my sovereign's face. 170 

I am the last of noble Edward's sons, 

Of whom thy father. Prince of Wales, was first : 

In war was never lion rag'd more fierce. 

In peace was never gentle lamb more mild, 

Than was that young and princely gentleman. 

His face thou hast, for even so look'd he, 

Accomplish'd with the number of thy hours ; 

But when he frown'd, it was against the French, 

And not against his friends : his noble hand 

Did win what he did spend, and spent not that 180 

Which his triumphant father's hand had won : 

His hands were guilty of no kindred's blood, 

But bloody with the enemies of his kin. 

O Richard ! York is too far gone with grief. 

Or else he never would compare between. 
King Richard, Why, uncle, what's the matter } 
York. O my liege, 

Pardon me, if you please ; if not, I, pleas'd 

Not to be pardon'd, am content withal. 

Seek you to seize, and gripe into your hands. 

The royalties and rights of banish'd Hereford "i 190 

Is not Gaunt dead, and doth not Hereford live ? 

Was not Gaunt just, and is not Harry true? 

Did not the one deserve to have an heir ? 

Is not his heir a well-deserving son ? 

Take Hereford's rights away, and take from time 

His charters and his customary rights ; 

Let not to-morrow, then, ensue to-day; 

Be not thyself; for how art thou a king 

But by fair sequence and succession ? 

Now, afore God — God forbid I say true ! — zoo 

If you do wrongfully seize Hereford's rights, 

Call in the letters-patents that he hath 



ACT II. SCENE I 



73 



By his attorneys-general to sue 

His livery, and deny his offer'd homage, 

You pluck a thousand dangers on your head, 

You lose a thousand well-disposed hearts, 

And prick my tender patience to those thoughts 

Which honour and allegiance cannot think. 

King Richard. Think what you will : we seize into our 
hands 
His plate, his goods, his money, and his lands. 210 

York. I'll not be by the while ; my liege, farewell. 
What will ensue hereof, there's none can tell j 
But by bad courses may be understood 
That their events can never fall out good. \Exit. 

King Richard. Go, Bushy, to the Earl of Wiltshire straight : 
Bid him repair to us to Ely House, 
To see this business. To-morrow next 
We will for Ireland ; and 'tis time, I trow : 
And we create, in absence of ourself, 

Our uncle York lord governor of England ; 220 

For he is just, and always lov'd us well. — 
Come on, our queen : to-morrow must we part ; 
Be merry, for our time of stay is short. 

[Flourish. Exeunt King, Queen, Bushy, 
Aumerle, Green, and Bagot. 

Northumberland. Well, lords, the Duke of Lancaster is dead. 

Ross. And living too, for now his son is duke. 

Willoughby. Barely in title, not in revenue. 

Northumberland. Richly in both, if justice had her right. 

Ross. My heart is great ; but it must break with silence. 
Ere 't be disburthen'd with a liberal tongue. 

Northumberland. Nay, speak thy mind ; and let him ne'er 
speak more 230 

That speaks thy words again to do thee harm ! 

Willoughby. Tends that thou'dst speak to the Duke of 
Hereford ? 



74 RICHARD II. 

If it be so, out with it boldly, man ; 

Quick is mine ear to hear of good towards him. 

Ross. No good at all that I can do for him ; 
Unless you call it good to pity him, 
Bereft and gelded of his patrimony. 

Northumberland. Now, afore God, 'tis shame such wrongs 
are borne 
In him, a royal prince, and many moe 

Of noble blood in this declining land. 240 

The king is not himself, but basely led 
By flatterers ; and what they will inform, 
Merely in hate, 'gainst any of us all, 
That will the king severely prosecute 
'Gainst us, our lives, our children, and our heirs. 

Ross. The commons hath he pill'd with grievous taxes. 
And lost their hearts; the nobles hath he fin'd 
For ancient quarrels, and quite lost their hearts. 

Willoughby. And daily new exactions are devis'd ; 
As blanks, benevolences, and I wot not what : 250 

But what, o' God's name, doth become of this ? 

Northumberland. Wars have not wasted it, for warr'd he 
hath not, 
But basely yielded upon compromise 
That which his ancestors achiev'd with blows : 
More hath he spent in peace than they in wars. 

Ross. The Earl of Wiltshire hath the realm in farm. 

Willoughby. The king's grown bankrupt, like a broken 
man. 

Northumberland. Reproach and dissolution hangeth over 
him. 

Ross. He hath not money for these Irish wars. 
His burthenous taxations notwithstanding, 260 

But by the robbing of the banish'd duke. 

Northumberland. His noble kinsman : most degenerate 
king ! 



ACT II. SCENE L 75 

But, lords, we hear this fearful tempest sing. 
Yet seek no shelter to avoid the storm ; 
We see the wind sit sore upon our sails. 
And yet we strike not, but securely perish. 

J^oss. We see the very wrack that we must suffer ; 
And unavoided is the danger now, 
For suffering so the causes of our wrack. 

Northumberland. Not so : even through the hollow eyes 
of death 270 

I spy life peering ; but I dare not say 
How near the tidings of our comfort is. 

Willoughby. Nay, let us share thy thoughts, as thou dost 
ours. 

Ross. Be confident to speak, Northumberland : 
We three are but thyself; and, speaking so, 
Thy words are but as thoughts : therefore, be bold. 

Northumberland. Then thus : — I have from Port le Blanc, 
a bay 
In Brittany, receiv'd intelligence 
That Harry Duke of Hereford, Renald Lord Cobham, 

That late broke from the Duke of Exeter, 280 

His brother. Archbishop late of Canterbury, 

Sir Thomas Erpingham, Sir John Ramston, 

Sir John Norbery, Sir Robert Waterton, and Francis Quoint, — 

All these, well furnish'd by the Duke of Bretagne, 

With eight tall ships, three thousand men of war, 

Are making hither with all due expedience. 

And shortly mean to touch our northern shore : 

Perhaps they had ere this, but that they stay 

The first departi^ig of the king for Ireland. 

If, then, we shall shake off our slavish yoke, • 290 

Imp out our drooping country's broken wing, 

Redeem from broking pawn the blemish'd crown. 

Wipe off the dust that hides our sceptre's gilt. 



76 RICHARD II. 

And make high majesty look hke itself, 
Away with me in post to Ravenspurg ; 
But if you faint, as fearing to do so, 
Stay and be secret, and myself will go. 

Ross. To horse, to horse ! urge doubts to them that fear. 

Willoughby. Hold out my horse, and I will first be there. 

\Exe21nt. 

Scene II. London. A Room in the Palace. 
Enter Queen, Bushy, a7id Bagot. 

Bushy. Madam, your majesty is too much sad : 
You promis'd, when you parted with the king. 
To lay aside life-harming heaviness, 
And entertain a cheerful disposition. 

Queen. To please the king, I did ; to please myself, 
I cannot do it : yet I know no cause 
Why I should welcome such a guest as grief. 
Save bidding farewell to so sweet a guest 
As my sweet Richard. Yet, again, methinks 
Some unborn sorrow, ripe in fortune's womb, 10 

Is coming towards me ; and my inward soul 
With nothing trembles : at some thing it grieves, 
More than with parting from my lord the king. 

Bushy. Each substance of a grief hath twenty shadows. 
Which show like grief itself, but are not so : 
For sorrow's eye, glazed with blinding tears. 
Divides one thing entire to many objects ; 
Like perspectives, which rightly gaz'd upon 
Show nothing but confusion, eyed awry 

Distinguish form : so your sweet majesty, • 20 

Looking awry upon your lord's departure. 
Finds shapes of grief more than himself to wail ; 
Which, look'd on as it is, is nought but shadows 
Of what it is not. Then, thrice-gracious queen, 



ACT II. SCENE IL 



77 




More than your lord's departure weep not : more's not 

seen ; 
Or if it be, 'tis with false sorrow's eye, 
Which for things true weeps things imaginary. 
Queen. It may be so ; but yet my inward soul 



78 



RICHARD II. 



Persuades me it is otherwise : howe'er it be, 
I cannot but be sad ; so heavy sad, 30 

As, — though, on thinking, on no thought I think, — 
Makes me with heavy nothing faint and shrink. 

Bushy. 'Tis nothing but conceit, my gracious lady. 

Queen. 'Tis nothing less : conceit is still deriv'd 
From some forefather grief ; mine is not so. 
For nothing hath begot my something grief; 
Or something hath the nothing that I grieve. 
'Tis in reversion that I do possess. 
But what it is, that is not yet known ; what 
I cannot name ; 'tis nameless woe, I wot. 40 

Enter Green. 

Green. God save your majesty ! — and well met, gentle- 
men : — 
I hope the king is not yet shipp'd for Ireland. 

Queen. Why hop'st thou so ? 'tis better hope he is ; 
For his designs crave haste, his haste good hope : 
Then wherefore dost thou hope he is not shipp'd .f* 

Green. That he, our hope, might have retir'd his power. 
And driven into despair an enemy's hope. 
Who strongly hath set footing in this land. 
The banish'd Bolingbroke repeals himself, 
And with uplifted arms is safe arriv'd 5° 

At Ravenspurg. 

Queen. Now God in heaven forbid ! 

Green. O madam, 'tis too true : and that is worse. 
The Lord Northumberland, his son young Henry Percy, 
The Lords of Ross, Beaumond, and Willoughby, 
With all their powerful friends, are fled to him. 

Bushy. Why have you not proclaim'd Northumberland, 
And all the rest of the revolted faction, traitors } 

Green. We have : whereupon the Earl of Worcester 
Hath broke his staff, resign'd his stewardship. 



ACT II. SCENE II ^Q 

And all the household servants fled with him 60 

To Bolingbroke. 

Queen. So, Green, thou art the midwife to my woe, 
And Bolingbroke my sorrow's dismal heir : 
Now hath my soul brought forth her prodigy, 
And I, a gasping new-deliver'd mother, 
Have woe to woe, sorrow to sorrow join'd. 

Bushy. Despair not, madam. 

Queen. Who shall hinder me ? 

I will despair, and be at enmity 
With cozening hope ; he is a flatterer, 

A parasite, a keeper-back of death, 70 

Who gently would dissolve the bands of life, 
Which false hope lingers in extremity. 

Enter York. 

Green. Here comes the Duke of York. 

Queen. With signs of war about his aged neck : 
O, full of careful business are his looks ! — 
Uncle, for God's sake, speak comfortable words. 

York. Should I do so, I should belie my thoughts : 
Comfort's in heaven ; and we are on the earth, 
Where nothing lives but crosses, care, and grief. 
Your husband, he is gone to save far off, 80 

Whilst others come to make him lose at home : 
Here am I left to underprop his land, 
Who, weak with age, cannot support myself. 
Now comes the sick hour that his surfeit made ; 
Now shall he try his friends that flatter'd him. 

Enter a Servant. 

Servant. My lord, your son was gone before I came. 

York. He was ? — Why, so !— go all which way it will !— \ 
The nobles they are fled, the commons they are cold, 
And will, I fear, revolt on Hereford's side. — 



8o RICHARD JI. 

Sirrah, get thee to Flashy, to my sister Gloster; 90 

Bid her send me presently a thousand pound. 
Hold, take my ring. 

Serva?it. My lord, I had forgot to tell your lordship, 
To-day, as I came by, I called there ; — 
But I shall grieve you to report the rest. 

York. What is't, knave ? 

Servant. An hour before I came the duchess died. 

York. God for his mercy ! vi^hat a tide of woes • 
Comes rushing on this woeful land at once ! 
I know not what to do : — I would to God, 100 

(So my untruth had not provok'd him to it) 
The king had cut off my head with my brother's. — 
What, are there no posts despatch'd for Ireland ? — 
How shall we do for money for these wars ? — 
Come, sister, — cousin, I would say ; pray pardon me. — 
Go, fellow \to the Servant\ get thee home, provide some carts, 
And bring away the armour that is there. — 

\^Exit Servant. 
Gentlemen, will you go muster men ? If I know 
How or which way to order these affairs, 
Thus thrust disorderly into my hands, "o 

Never believe me. Both are my kinsmen : 
The one is my sovereign, whom both my oath 
And duty bids defend ; the other, again. 
Is my kinsman, whom the king hath wrong'd. 
Whom conscience and my kindred bids to right. 
Well, somewhat we must do. — Come, cousin, I'll 
Dispose of you. — Gentlemen, go, muster up your men, 
And meet me presently at Berkeley Castle. 
I should to Flashy too ; 

But time will not permit : — all is uneven, 120 

And everything is left at six and seven. 

\Exeimt York and Queen. 

Bushy. The wind sits fair for news to go to Ireland, 



ACT 11. SCENE 11. 8 1 

But none returns. For us to levy power 
Proportionable to the enemy 
Is all unpossible. 

Green. Besides, our nearness to the king in love 
Is near the hate of those love not the king. 

Bagot. And that's the wavering commons ; for their love 
Lies in their purses, and whoso empties them 
By so much fills' their hearts with deadly hate. 130 

Bushy. .V^)\^x€m. the king stands generally condemn'd. 

Bagot. If judgment lie in them, then so do we, 
Because we ever have been near the king. 

Green. Well, I will for refuge straight to Bristol Castle : 
The Earl of Wiltshire is already there. 

Bushy. Thither will I with you : for little office 
The hateful commons will perform for us. 
Except like curs to tear us all to pieces. — 
Will you go along with us .'' 

Bagot. No ; I will to Ireland to his majesty. 140 

Farewell : if heart's presages be not vain. 
We three here part that ne'er shall meet again. 

Bushy. That's as York thrives to beat back Bolingbroke. 

Green. Alas, poor duke ! the task he undertakes 
Is numbering sands, and drinking oceans dry : 
Where one on his side fights, thousands will fly. 

Bagot. Farewell at once, — for once, for all, and ever. 

Bushy. Well, we may meet again. 

Bagot. I fear me, never. 

\Exeunt. 





•There stands -the castle." 



Scene III. The Wilds in Glostershire. 
Enter Bolingbroke and Northumberland, with Forces. 

Bolingbroke. How far is it, my lord, to Berkeley now ? 

Northmnberland. Believe me, noble lord, 
I am a stranger here in Glostershire. 
These high wild hills and rough uneven ways 
Draws out our miles, and makes them wearisome ; 
And yet your fair discourse hath been as sugar. 
Making the hard way sweet and delectable. 
But I bethink me what a weary way 
From Ravenspurg to Cotswold will be found 
In Ross and Willoughby, wanting your company. 
Which, I protest, hath very much beguil'd 



ACT 11. SCENE III. 3^ 

The tediousness and process of my travel : 

But theirs is sweeten'd with the hope to have 

The present benefit which I possess ; 

And hope to joy is little less in joy 

Than hope enjoy'd : by this the weary lords 

Shall make their way seem short, as mine hath done 

By sight of what I have, your noble company. 

Bolingbroke, Of much less value is my company 
Than your good words. But who comes here ? 20 

Enter Harry Percy. 

Northumberlmid. It is my son, young Harry Percy, 
Sent from my brother Worcester, whencesoever. — 
Harry, how fares your uncle ? 

Percy. I had thought, my lord, to have learn'd his l\ealth 
of you. 

Northumberland. Why, is he not with the queen ? 

Percy. No, my good lord ; he hath forsook the court, 
Broken his staff of office, and dispers'd 
The household of the king. 

Northumberland. What was his reason ? 

He was not so resolv'd when last we spake together. 

Percy. Because your lordship was proclaimed traitor. 30 
But he, my lord, is gone to Ravenspurg, 
To offer service to the Duke of Hereford ; 
And sent me over by Berkeley, to discover 
What power the Duke of York had levied there ; 
Then with directions to repair to Ravenspurg. 

Northumberland. Have you forgot the Duke of Hereford, 
boy? 

Percy. No, my good lord ; for that is not forgot 
Which ne'er I did remember : to my knowledge, 
I never in my life did look on him. 

Northumberland. Then learn to know him now ; this is the 
duke. ^ 40 



84 RICHARD II. 

Percy. My gracious lord, I tender you my service, 
Such as it is, being tender, raw, and young, 
Wliich elder days shall ripen, and confirm 
To more approved service and desert. 

Bolingbroke. I thank thee, gentle Percy j and be sure 
I count myself in nothing else so happy 
As in a soul remembering my good friends ; 
And, as my fortune ripens with thy love, 
It shall be still thy true love's recompense : 
My heart this covenant makes, my hand thus seals it. 50 

Northumberland. How far is it to Berkeley ; and what stir 
Keeps good old York there with his men of war.? 

Percy. There stands the castle, by yon tuft of trees, 
Mann'd with three hundred men, as I have heard : 
And in it are the Lords of York, Berkeley, and Seymour ; 
None else of name and noble estimate. 

Enter Ross and Willoughby. 

Northumberland. Here come the Lords of Ross and Wil- 
loughby, 
Bloody with spurring, fiery-red with haste. 

Bolingbroke. Welcome, my lords. I wot your love pursues 
A banish'd traitor : all my treasury 60 

Is yet but unfelt thanks, which, more enrich'd. 
Shall be your love and labour's recompense. 

Ross. Your presence makes us rich, most noble lord. 

Willoughby. And far surmounts our labour to attain it. 

Bolingbroke. Evermore thanks, the exchequer of the poor ; 
Which, till my infant fortune comes to years, 
Stands for my bounty. — But who comes here ? 

Enter Berkeley. 

Northumberland. It is my Lord of Berkeley, as I guess. 
Berkeley. My Lord of Hereford, my message is to you. 
Bolingbroke. My lord, my answer is — to Lancaster ; 70 



ACT II. SCENE IIL 85 

And I am come to seek that name in England \ 
And I must find that title in your tongue, 
Before I make reply to aught you say. 

Berkeley. Mistake me not, my lord ; 'tis not my meaning 
To raze one title of your honour out. 
To you, my lord, I come, what lord you will. 
From the most gracious regent of this land. 
The Duke of York, to know what pricks you on 
To take advantage of the absent time, 
And fright our native peace with self-born arms. 80 

Enter York, attended. 

Bolingbroke. I shall not need transport my words by you ; 
Here comes his grace in person. — My noble uncle ! \Kneels. 

York. Show me thy humble heart, and not thy knee, 
Whose duty is deceivable and false. 

Bolingbroke. My gracious uncle ! — 

York. Tut, tut! 

Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle : 
I am no traitor's uncle; and that word 'grace' 
In an ungracious mouth is but profane; 
Why have those banish'd and forbidden legs 
Dar'd once to touch a dust of England's ground ? 90 

But, then, more why, — why have they dar'd to march 
So many miles upon her peaceful bosom, 
Frighting her pale-fac'd villages with war 
And ostentation of despised arms ? 
Com'st thou because the anointed king is hence ? 
Why, foolish boy, the king is left behind. 
And in my loyal bosom lies his power. 
Were J but now the lord of such hot youth 
As when brave Gaunt thy father, and myself. 
Rescued the Black Prince, that young Mars of men, 100 

From forth the ranks of many thousand French, ^ 
O, then, how quickly should this arm of mine, 



86 RICHARD IL 

Now prisoner to the palsy, chastise thee, 
And minister correction to thy fault ! 

Bolingbroke. My gracious uncle, let me know my fault; 
On what condition stands it, and wherein ? 

York. Even in condition of the worst degree, 
In gross rebellion and detested treason : 
Thou art a banish'd man, and here art come 
Before the expiration of thy time, no 

In braving arms against thy sovereign. 

Bolingbroke. As I was banish'd, I was banish'd Hereford ; 
But as I come, I come for Lancaster. 
And, noble uncle, I beseech your grace 
Look on my wrongs with an indifferent eye ; 
You are my father, for methinks in you 
I see old Gaunt alive : O, then, my father. 
Will you permit that I shall stand condemn'd 
A wandering vagabond, my rights and royalties 
Pluck'd from my arms perforce, and given away 120 

To upstart unthrifts ? Wherefore was I born t 
If that my cousin king be king of England, 
It must be granted I am Duke of Lancaster. 
You have a son, Aumerle, my noble kinsman; 
Had you first died, and he been thus trod down, 
He should have found his uncle Gaunt a father. 
To rouse his wrongs, and chase them to the bay. 
I am denied to sue my livery here. 
And yet my letters-patents give me leave : 
My father's goods are all distrain'd and sold; 130 

And these and all are all amiss employ'd. 
What would you have me do ? I am a subject, 
And challenge law : attorneys are denied me, 
And therefore personally I lay my claim 
To my inheritance of free descent. 

Northumberland. The noble duke hath been too much 
abus'd. 



•(••. 




ACT II. SCENE III. 87 

Ross. It Stands your grace upon to do him right. 
Willoughby. Base men by his endowments are made great. 
York. My lords of England, let me tell you this : 
I have had feeling of my cousin's wrongs, ho 

And labour'd all I could to do him right; 
But in this kind to come, in braving arms, 
Be his own carver, and cut out his way. 
To find out right with wrong,— it may not be; 
And you that do abet him in this kind 
Cherish rebellion, and are rebels all. 

Northumberland. The noble duke hath sworn his coming is 
But for his own ; and for the right of that 
We all have strongly sworn to give him aid. 
And let him ne'er see joy that breaks that oath ! 150 

York. Well, well, I see the issue of these arms. 
I cannot mend it, I must needs confess, 
Because my power is weak and all ill left; 
But if I could, by Him that gave me life, 
I would attach you all, and make you stoop 
Unto the sovereign mercy of the king : 
But since I cannot, be it known to you 
I do remain as neuter. So, fare you well ; 
Unless you please to enter in the castle. 
And there repose you for this night. 160 

Bolinghroke. An offer, uncle, that we will accept : 
But we must win your grace to go with us 
To Bristol Castle, which they say is held 
By Bushy, Bagot, and their complices, 
The caterpillars of the commonwealth. 
Which I have sworn to weed and pluck away. 

York. It may be I will go with you;— but yet I'll pause; 
For I am loath to break our country's laws. 
Nor friends nor foes, to me welcome you are : 
Things past redress are now with me past care. ^ 170 

\Exeunt. 



88 RICHARD II. 



Scene IV. A Camp in Wales. 
Enter Salisbury and a Captain. 

Captain. My Lord of Salisbury, we have stay'd ten days, 
And hardly kept our countrymen together, 
And yet we hear no tidings from the king; 
Therefore we will disperse ourselves : farewell. 

Salisbury. Stay yet another day, thou trusty Welshman : 
The king reposeth all his confidence in thee. 

Captain. 'Tis thought the king is dead ; we will not stay. 
The bay-trees in our country are all wither'd, 
And meteors fright the fixed stars of heaven; 
The pale-fac'd moon looks bloody on the earth, lo 

And lean-look'd prophets whisper fearful change; 
Rich men look sad, and ruffians dance and leap. 
The one in fear to lose what they enjoy, 
The other to enjoy by rage and war : 
These signs forerun the death or fall of kings. 
Farewell : our countrymen are gone and fled, 
As well assur'd Richard their king is dead. \_Exit. 

Salisbury. Ah, Richard, with the eyes of heavy mind, 
I see thy glory, like a shooting star, 

Fall to the base earth from the firmament. 2c 

The sun sets weeping in the lowly west, 
Witnessing storms to come, woe and unrest : 
Thy friends are fled, to wait upon thy foes, 
And crossly to thy good all fortune goes. \Exit 




ACT III. 

Scene I. Bolingbroke's Camp at Bristol. 

Enter Bolingbroke, York, Northumberland, Percy, Wil- 
LOUGHBY, Ross, with BusHY and Green prisoners. 

Bolingbroke. Bring forth these men. — 
Bushy and Green, I will not vex your souls 
(Since presently your souls must part your bodies) 
With too much urging your pernicious lives. 
For 'twere no charity; yet, to wash your blood 
From off my hands, here in the view of men \ 

I will unfold some causes of your deaths. 
You have misled a prince, a royal king, 



90 RICHARD IL 

A happy gentleman in blood and lineaments, 

By you unhappied and disfigur'd clean : lo 

You have in manner with your sinful hours 

Made a divorce betwixt his queen and him, 

Broke the possession of a royal bed, 

And stain'd the beauty of a fair queen's cheeks 

With tears drawn from her eyes by your foul wrongs. 

Myself, a prince by fortune of my birth, 

Near to the king in blood, and near in love 

Till you did make him misinterpret me, 

Have stoop'd my neck under your injuries. 

And sigh'd my English breath in foreign clouds, 20 

Eating the bitter bread of banishment; 

Whilst you have fed upon my signories, 

Dispark'd my parks, and fell'd my forest-woods. 

From my own windows torn my household coat, 

Raz'd out my impress, leaving me no sign. 

Save men's opinions and my living blood. 

To show the world I am a gentleman. 

This and much more, much more than twice all this. 

Condemns you to the death. — See them deliver'd over 

To execution and the hand of death. 30 

Bushy. More welcome is the stroke of death to me 
Than Bolingbroke to England. 

Green. My comfort is, that heaven will take our souls, 
And plague injustice with the pains of hell. 

Bolingbroke. My Lord Northumberland, see them de- 
spatch'd. 
\Exetmt Northimiberland and others^ with Prisoners. 
Uncle, you say the queen is at your house; 
For God's sake, fairly let her be entreated : 
Tell her I send to her my kind commends; 
Take special care my greetings be deliver'd. 

York. A gentleman of mine I have despatch'd 4© 

With letters of your love to her at large. 



ACT III. SCENE II. 91 

Bolmgbroke. Thanks, gentle uncle. — Come, lords, away. 
To fight with Glendower and his complices : 
Awhile to work, and after holiday. \Exeunt. 

Scene II. The Coast <?/" Wales. A Castle in view. 

Flourish; drums and truinpets. Enter King Richard, the 
Bishop of Carlisle, Aumerle, and Soldiers. 

King Richard. Barkloughly Castle call you this at hand ? 

Aumerle. Yea, my lord. How brooks your grace the air, 
After your late tossing on the breaking seas ? 

King Richard. Needs must I like it well; I weep for joy 
To stand upon my kingdom once again. — 
Dear earth, I do salute thee with my hand, 
Though rebels wound thee with their horses' hoofs : 
As a long-parted mother with her child 
Plays fondly with her tears and smiles in meeting, 
So, weeping, smiling, greet I thee, my earth, lo 

And do thee favour with my royal hands. 
Feed not thy sovereign's foe, my gentle earth, 
Nor with thy sweets comfort his ravenous sense; 
But let thy spiders that suck up thy venom, 
And heavy-gaited toads, lie in their way. 
Doing annoyance to the treacherous feet, 
Which with usurping steps do trample thee. 
Yield stinging nettles to mine enemies; 
And when they from thy bosom pluck a flower, 
Guard it, I pray thee, with a lurking adder, 20 

Whose double tongue may with a mortal touch 
Throw death upon thy sovereign's enemies. — 
Mock not my senseless conjuration, lords : 
This earth shall have a feeling, and these stones 
Prove armed soldiers, ere her native king 
Shall falter under foul rebellious arms ! 

Carlisle. Fear not, my lord; that Power that made you king 



92 KICHAKJ^ //. 

Hath power to keep you king in spite of all. 

The means that heaven yields must be embrac'd 

And not neglected ; else, it' heaven would, 30 

And we will not, heaven's offer we refuse, 

The proffer'd means of succour and redress. 

Aumtrli. He means, my lord, that we are too remiss; 
Whilst Bolingbroke, through our security, 
Grows strong and great in substance and in friends. 

A7//^^ Richard. Discomfortable cousin ! know'st thou not 
That when the searching eye of heaven is hid 
Behind the globe, that lights the lower world. 
Then thieves and robbers range abroad unseen, 
In murthers and in outrage, boldly here; 40 

But when from under this terrestrial ball 
He hres the proud tops of the eastern pines, 
And darts his light through every guilty hole, 
Then murthers, treasons, and detested sins. 
The cloak of night being pluck'd from off their backs, 
Stand bare and naked, trembling at themselves? 
So when this thief, this traitor, Bolingbroke, 
Who all this while hath revell'd in the night. 
Whilst we were wandering with the antipodes. 
Shall see us rising in our throne, the east, 50 

His treasons will sit blushing in his face, 
Not able to endure the siaht of dav. 
But self-aflVighted tremble at his sin. 
Not all the water in the rough rude sea 
Can wash the balm from an anointed king ; 
The breath of worldly men cannot depose 
The deputy elected by the Lord. 
For every man that Bolingbroke hath press'd 
To lift shrewd steel against our golden crown, 
God for his Richard hath in heavenly pay 60 

A glorious angel: then, if angels fight, 
Weak man must fall; for heaven still guards the right. 



•_ 



ACT III. SCENE //. 93 

Enter Salisbury. 
Welcome, my lord: how far off lies your power? 

Salisbury. Nor near nor farther off, my gracious lord, 
Than this weak arm: discomfort guides my tongue, 
And bids me speak of nothing but despair. 
One day too late, I fear, my noble lord. 
Hath clouded all thy happy days on earth. 
O, call back yesterday, bid time return, 

And thou shalt have twelve thousand fighting men ! 70 

To-day, to-day, unhappy day, too late, 
O'erthrows thy joys, friends, fortune, and thy state ; 
For all the Welshmen, hearing thou wert dead. 
Are gone to Bolingbroke, dispers'd, and fled. 

Aumerle. Comfort, my liege! why looks your grace so 

pale? 
King Richard. But now the blood of twenty thousand men 
Did triumph in my face, and they are fled; 
And till so much blood thither come again. 
Have I not reason to look pale and dead? 
All souls that will be safe fly from my side, 80 

For time hath set a blot upon my pride. 

Aumerle. Comfort, my liege! remember who you are. 
King Richard. I had forgot myself: am I not king? 
Awake, thou sluggard majesty! thou sleep'st. 
Is not the king's name forty thousand names ? 
Arm, arm, my name! a puny subject strikes 
At thy great glory. — Look not to the ground. 
Ye favourites of a king: are we not high? 
High be our thoughts. I know my uncle York 
Hath power enough to serve our turn.— But who comes 
here? ^o 

E7iter Scroop. 

Scroop. More health and happiness betide my liege 
Than can my care-tun'd tongue deliver him. 



94 



A'/CJ/.IA'/) //. 



A'/W<vAVr^7/v/. Mine oar is open and my heart prepar'cl : 
The worst is worUUy loss thou can'st unfold. 
Say, is my kingtlom lost? why, 'twas my care; 
And what loss is it to be rid of care? 
Strives .I>olini;broke to be as great as we? 
Greater he shall not be; if he serve God, 
We'll serve Him too, and be his fellow so. 
Revolt our subjects? that we cannot mend : i 

They break their faith to God as well as us: 
Cry woe, destruction, ruin, loss, decay; 
The worst is death, and death will have his day. 
^ Scroop, Glad am I that your highness is so ainiM 
To bear the tidings of calamity. 
Like an unseasonable stormy day. 
Which makes the silver rivers drown their shores, 
As if the world were all dissolved to tears, 
So high above his limits swells the rage 
Of liolingbroke, covering your fearful land i 

With hard bright steel, and hearts harder than steel. 
White-beards have arm'd their thin and hairless scalps 
Against thy majesty ; and boys, with women's voices. 
Strive to speak big, and clap their female joints 
In stiff unwieldy arms against thy crown : 
Thy very beadsmen learn to bend their bows 
Of double-fatal yew against thy state; 
Yea, distatT-women manage rusty bills 
Against thy seat: both young and old rebel. 
And all goes worse than I have power to tell. i 

Kini!^ KiihivJ. Too well, too well thou tell'st a tale so ill 
Where is the Karl of Wiltshire ? where is Bagot ? 
What has become of Bushy ? where is Green ? 
That they have let the dangerous enemy 
Measure our confines with such peaceful steps? 
If we prevail, their heads shall pay for it; 
I warrant they have made peace with Bolingbroke. 



A'./ JJJ :.(J'JJJ: //. 95 

Scroop, Vazct have they ma^lc with him, indeed, my lord, 
Kin^f Kichard. O villains, viper», damn VI without redemp- 
tion 1 
I>o^H, ea^iily won to £awn on any man ! 
Snakc«, in my heart-blood warmed, that »ting my heart \ 
Three Juda»c», each one thrice worhe than Judan! 
Would they makx; peace? Terrible hell make war 
'/pon their spotted fK^uls for thi» offence ! 

Scroop. Sweet love, 1 see, changing his property. 
Turns to the sourest and most deadly hate, 
A^/aifi uncuLse their »ou1h; their peace i» made 
With heads, and not with hands: those whom you curse 
ffjive felt the worst of death^s destroying hand, 
And lie full low, grav'd in the hollow ground. 140 

Aumerle. Is Bushy, Oreen, and the Karl of Wiltshire dead ? 
Scroop. Yea, all of them at iJristol lost their hearls 
Aumerla. Where is the duke my father with his power 'i 
Kin^ Richard. Xo matter where; of comfort no man 
speak : 
Let's talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs, 
Make dust our paper, and with rainy eyes 
Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth. 
J/Ct's choose executors, and talk of wills: 
And yet not so, — for what can we bequeath. 
Save our deposed bodies to the ground ? 
Our lands, our lives, and all are IJolingbrokc :■>, 
And nothing can we call our own but death. 
And that small model of the barren earth 
Which serves as paste and cover to our bones, 
I' or God's sake, let us sit upon the ground, 
And tell sad stories of the death of kinjis: 
I low some have been depos'd, some slain in war, 
Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed, 
Some poison'd by their wives, some sleeping kill'd^ 
All murther'd : for within (he hollow crown f'V^ 



96 



RICHARD 11. 



That rounds the mortal temples of a king 

Keeps Death his court, and there the antic sits, 

Scoffing his state, and grinning at his pomp, 

Allowing him a breath, a little scene, 

To monarchize, be fear'd, and kill with looks ; 

Infusing him with self and vain conceit, 

As if this flesh, which walls about our life, 

Were brass impregnable, and humour'd thus 

Comes at the last, and with a little pin 

Bores through his castle wall, and — farewell king! 170 

Cover your heads, and mock not flesh and blood 

With solemn reverence ; throw away respect, 

Tradition, form, and ceremonious duty, 

For you have but mistook me all this while : 

I live with bread like you, feel want, taste grief, 

Need friends: — subjected thus. 

How can you say to me, I am a king ? 

Carlisle. My lord, wise men ne'er wail their present woes. 
But presently prevent the ways to wail. 

To fear the foe, since fear oppresseth strength, 180 

Gives, in your weakness, strength unto your foe. 
And so your follies fight against yourself. 
Fear, and be slain ; no worse can come to fight : 
And fight and die is death destroying death. 
Where fearing dying pays death servile breath. 

Aumerle. My father hath a power; inquire of him. 
And learn to make a body of a limb. 

King Richard. Thou chid'st me well. — Proud Bolingbroke, 
I come 
To change blows with thee for our day of doom. 
This ague-fit of fear is over-blown ; 190 

An easy task it is to win our own. — 
Say, Scroop, where lies our uncle with his power? 
Speak sweetly, man, although thy looks be sour. 

Scroop. Men judge by the complexion of the sky 



ACT III. SCENE III. 



97 



The state and inclination of the day; 

So may you by my dull and heavy eye, 

My tongue hath but a heavier tale to say. 

I play the torturer, by small and small 

To lengthen out the worst that must be spoken. 

Your uncle York is join'd with Bolingbroke ; 200 

And all your northern castles yielded up, 

And all your southern gentlemen in arms 

Upon his faction. 

King Richard. Thou hast said enough.— 

Beshrew thee, cousin, which didst lead me forth [7^o Aunierle, 
Of that sweet way I was in to despair ! 
What say you now ? what comfort have we now t 
By heaven, I'll hate him everlastingly 
That bids me be of comfort any more. 

Go to Fhnt Castle : there I'll pine away ; 210 

A king, woe's slave, shall kingly woe obey. 
That power I have, discharge ; and let them go 
To ear the land that hath some hope to grow. 
For I have none. — Let no man speak again 
To alter this, for counsel is but vain. 

Au7nerle. My liege, one word. 

King Richard. He does me double wrong 

That wounds me with the flatteries of his tong^ue. 
Discharge my followers : let them hence away. 
From Richard's night to Bolingbroke's fair day. [Exeunt. 

Scene III. Wales. Before Flint Castle. 

Enter ^ with drum and colours, Bolingbroke and Forces ; York, 
Northumberland, a7id others. ^ 

Bolingbroke. So that by this intelligence we learn 
The Welshmen are dispers'd ; and Salisbury 
Is gone to meet the king, who lately landed 
With some few private friends upon this coast. 

G 



9 8 RICHARD 11. 

Northmnberland. The news is very . fair and good, my 
lord : 
Richard not far from hence hath hid his head. 

York. It would beseem the Lord Northumberland 
To say ' King Richard.' — Alack the heavy day 
When such a sacred king should hide his head ! 

Northumberland. Your grace mistakes ; only to be brief lo 
Left I his title out. 

York. The time hath been, 

Would you have been so brief with him, he would 
Have been so brief with you, to shorten you, 
For taking so the head, your whole head's length. 

Bolingbroke. Mistake not, uncle, further than you should. 

York. Take not, good cousin, further than you should, 
Lest you mistake : the heavens are o'er your head. 

Bolmgbroke. I know it, uncle ; and oppose not myself 
Against their will. — But who comes here? 

Enter Percy. 

Welcome, Harry: what, will not this castle yield .^ 20 

Percy. The castle royally is mann'd, my lord, 

Against thy entrance. 
Bolingbroke. Royally ! 

Why, it contains no king? 

Percy. Yes, my good lord, 

It doth contain a king : King Richard lies 

Within the limits of yond lime and stone; 

And with him are the Lord Aumerle, Lord Salisbury, 

Sir Stephen Scroop ; besides a clergyman 

Of holy reverence, — who, I cannot learn. 

Northumberla7id. O, belike it is the Bishop of Carlisle. 30 
Bolifigbroke. Noble lord, [To Northumberlaiid. 

Go to the rude ribs of that ancient castle ; 

Through brazen trumpet send the breath of parle 

Into his ruin'd ears, and thus deliver : — 



• ACT III. SCENE III. 

Henry Bolingbroke 

On both his knees doth kiss King Richard's hand, 
And sends allegiance and true faith of heart 
To his most royal person; hither come 
Even at his feet to lay my arms and power, 
Provided that my banishment repeal'd, 40 

And lands restor'd again, be freely granted. 
If not, I'll use the advantage of my power, 
And lay the summer's dust with showers of blood 
Rain'd from the wounds of slaughter'd Englishmen : 
The which, how far off from the mind of Bolingbroke 
It is, such crimson tempest should bedrench 
The fresh green lap of fair King Richard's land, 
My stooping duty tenderly shall show. 
Go, signify as much, while here we march 
Upon the grassy carpet of this plain.— 50 

\Northumberla7id advances to the Castle 7mtk a trumpet. 
Let's march without the noise of threatening drum, 
That from the castle's tatter'd battlements 
Our fair appointments may be well perus'd. - 
Methinks King Richard and myself should meet 
With no less terror than the elements 
Of fire and water, when their thundering shock 
At meeting tears the cloudy cheeks of heaven. 
Be he the fire, I'll be the yielding water: 
The rage be his, while on the earth I rain 
My waters,~on the earth, and not on him. " 60 

March on, and mark King Richard how he looks. 

A park sounded, and answered by another trumpet ivithin. 
Flourish. Enter on the walls King Richard, the Bishop 
OF Carlisle, Aumerle, Scroop, a7td Salisbury. 

York. See, see. King Richard doth himself appear. 
As doth the blushing discontented sun 
From out the fiery portal of the east. 



lOo RICHARD 11. 

When he perceives the envious clouds are bent 

To dim his glory, and to stain the track 

Of his bright passage to the Occident. 

Yet looks he like a king : behold, his eye, 

As bright as is the eagle's, lightens forth 

Controlling majesty. Alack, alack, for woe, 70 

That any harm should stain so fair a show ! 

King Richard. We are amaz'd ; and thus long have we 
stood \To Northumberland. 

To watch the fearful bending of thy knee. 
Because we thought ourself thy lawful king : 
And if we be, how dare thy joints forget 
To pay their awful duty to our presence ? 
If we be not, show us the hand of God 
That hath dismiss'd us from our stewardship ; 
For well we know, no hand of blood and bone 
Can gripe the sacred handle of our sceptre, 80 

Unless he do profane, steal, or usurp. 
And though you think that all, as you have done. 
Have torn their souls by turning them from us. 
And we are barren and bereft of friends. 
Yet know, my master, God omnipotent. 
Is mustering in his clouds, on our behalf. 
Armies of pestilence ; and they shall strike 
Your children yet unborn and unbegot, 
That lift your vassal hands against my head. 
And threat the glory of my precious crown. 90 

Tell Bolingbroke — for yond methinks he stands — 
That every stride he makes upon my land 
Is dangerous treason : he is come to ope 
The purple testament of bleeding war ; 
But ere the crown he looks for live in peace, 
Ten thousand bloody crowns of mother's sons 
Shall ill become the flower of England's face. 
Change the complexion of her maid-pale peace 



ACT III, SCENE III. loi 

To scarlet indignation, and bedew 

Her pastures' grass with faithful English blood. loo 

Northumberla7id. The King of Heaven forbid our lord the 
Should so with civil and uncivil arms [king 

Be rush'd upon ! Thy thrice-noble cousin, 
Harry Bolingbroke, doth humbly kiss thy hand ; 
And by the honourable tomb he swears. 
That stands upon your royal grandsire's bones, 
And by the royalties of both your bloods — 
Currents that spring from one most gracious head — 
And by the buried hand of warlike Gaunt, 
And by the worth and honour of himself, "o 

Comprising all that may be sworn or said. 
His coming hither hath no further scope 
Than for his lineal royalties, and to beg 
Enfranchisement immediate on his knees : 
Which on thy royal party granted once. 
His glittering arms he will commend to rust, 
His barbed steeds to stables, and his heart 
To faithful service of your majesty. 
This swears he, as he is a prince, is just ; 
And, as I am a gentleman, I credit him. 120 

King Richard. Northumberland, say thus the king re- 
turns : — 
His noble cousin is right welcome hither; 
And all the number of his fair demands 
Shall be accomplish'd without contradiction. 
With all the gracious utterance thou hast 
Speak to his gentle hearing kind commends. — ^ 

We do debase ourself, cousin, do we not, \To Aumerle. 

To look so poorly, and to speak so fair ? 
Shall we call back Northumberland, and send 
Defiance to the traitor, and so die ? 130 

Aumerle. No, good my lord ; let's fight with gentle words 
Till time lend friends, and friends their helpful swords. 



I02 RICHARD II. 

King Richard. O God, O God ! that e'er this tongue of 
mine, 
That laid the sentence of dread banishment 
On yond proud man, should take it off again 
With words of sooth ! O that I were as great 
As is my grief, or lesser than my name ! 
Or that I could forget what I have been ! 
Or not remember what I must be now ! 
Swell'st thou, proud heart ? I'll give thee scope to beat, 140 
Since foes have scope to beat both thee and me. 

Aiimerle. Northumberland comes back from Bolingbroke. 

King Richard. What must the king do now ? Must he sub- 
mit? 
The king shall do it. Must he be depos'd ? 
The king shall be contented. Must he lose 
The name of king? O' God's name, let it go. 
I'll give my jewels for a set of beads. 
My gorgeous palace for a hermitage, 
My gay apparel for an alms-man's gown, 
My figur'd goblets for a dish of wood, 150 

My sceptre for a palmer's walking staff. 
My subjects for a pair of carved saints. 
And my large kingdom for a little grave, 
A little little grave, an obscure grave ; 
Or I'll be buried in the king's highway. 
Some way of common trade, where subjects' feet 
May hourly trample on their sovereign's head : 
For on my heart they tread now whilst I live, 
And, buried once, why not upon my head ? — 
Aumerle, thou weep'st; my tender-hearted cousin !— 160 

We'll make foul weather with despised tears ; 
Our sighs and they shall lodge the summer corn, 
And make a dearth in this revolting land. 
Or shall we play the wantons with our woes. 
And make some pretty match with shedding tears ? 



ACT III. SCENE III. 103 

As thus ;— to drop them still upon one place, 

Till they have fretted us a pair of graves 

Within the earth ; and, therein laid, there lies 

Two kinsmen digg'd their graves with weeping eyes. 

Would not this ill do well ?— Well, well, I see 170 

I talk but idly, and you mock at me. — 

Most mighty prince, my Lord Northumberland, 

What says King Bolingbroke ? will his majesty 

Give Richard leave to live till Richard die ? 

You make a leg, and Bolingbroke says ay. 

Northumberland. My lord, in the base court he doth at- 
tend 
To speak with you ; may it please you to come, down ? 

King Richard. Down, down I come; like glistering Phae- 
ton, 
Wanting the manage of unruly jades. 

{Northumberland retires to Bolingbroke. 
In the base court? Base court, where kings grow base, 180 
To come at traitors' calls, and do them grace. 
In the base court ? Come down ? Down, court ! down, king ! 
For night-owls shriek where mounting larks should sing. 

\_Exeunt from above. 

Bolingbroke. What says his majesty? 

Northumberland. Sorrow and grief of heart 

Makes him speak fondly, like a frantic man : 
Yet he is come. 

Enter King Richard and his Attendants below. 

Bolingbroke. Stand all apart, ^ 

And show fair duty to his majesty.— 
My gracious lord,— [Kneeling 

King Richard. Fair cousin, you debase your princely knee 
To make the base earth proud with kissing it : 190 

Me rather had my heart might feel your love 
Than my unpleas'd eye see your courtesy. 



104 



RICHARD II. 



Up, cousin, up; your heart is up, I know. 
Thus high at least, although your knee be low. 

Bolingbroke. My gracious lord, I come but for mine own. 

King Richard. Your own is yours, and I am yours, and all. 

Bolingbroke. So far be mine, my most redoubted lord, 
As my true service shall deserve your love. 

King Richard. Well you deserve : they well deserve to 
have 200 

That know the strong'st and surest way to get. — 
Uncle, give me your hand : nay, dry your eyes ; 
Tears show their love, but want their remedies. — 
Cousin, I am too young to be your father, 
Though you are old enough to be my heir. 
What you will have, I'll give, and willing too ; 
For do we must what force will have us do. — 
Set on towards London ; — cousin, is it so ? 

Bolingbroke. Yea, my good lord. ' 

King Richard. Then I must not say no. 

{^Flourish, Exeunt. 




" I'll give my jewels for a set of beads." 




Scene IV. Langley. The Duke of York's Garden. 
Enter the Queen and two Ladies. 

Queen. What sport shall we devise here in this garden, 
To drive away the heavy thought of care ? 

I Lady. Madam, we'll play at bowls. 

Queen. 'Twill make me think the world is full of rubs, 
And that my fortune runs against the bias. 

I Lady. Madam, we'll dance. 

Queen. My legs can keep no measure in delight, 
When my poor heart no measure keeps in grief: 
Therefore, no dancing, girl ; some other sport. 

I Lady. Madam, we'll tell tales. 

Queen. Of sorrow or of joy ? 



lo5 RICHARD II. 

I Lady. Of either, madam. 

Queen. Of neither, girl : 

For if of joy, being altogether wanting. 
It doth remember me the more of sorrow ; 
Or if of grief, being altogether had. 
It adds more sorrow to my want of joy : 
For what I have, I need not to repeat ; 
And what I want, it boots not to complain. 

I Lady. Madam, I'll sing. 

Queen. 'Tis well that thou hast cause ; 

But thou shouldst please me better wouldst thou weep. 20 

I Lady. I could weep, madam, would it do you good. 

Queen. And I could sing, would weeping do me good, 
And never borrow any tear of thee. — 
But stay, here come the gardeners : 
Let's step into the shadow of these trees. 
My wretchedness unto a row of pins, 
They'll talk of state ; for every one doth so 
Against a change : woe is forerun with woe. 

S^Queen and Ladies retire. 

Enter a Gardener and two Servants. 

Gardener. Go, bind thou up yond dangling apricocks, 
Which, like unruly children, make their sire 30 

Stoop with oppression of their prodigal weight ; 
Give some supportance to the bending twigs. — 
Go thou, and like an executioner 
Cut off the heads of too-fast-growing sprays, 
That look too lofty in our commonwealth : 
All must be even in our government. — 
You thus employ'd, I will go root away 
The noisome weeds, which without profit suck 
The soil's fertility from wholesome flowers. 

I Servant. Why should we, in the compass of a pale, 40 
Keep law and form and due proportion, 



ACT IIL SCENE IV. 107 

Showing, as in a model, our firm estate. 
When our sea-walled garden, the w^hole land, 
Is full of weeds ; her fairest flowers chok'd up, 
Her fruit-trees all unprun'd, her hedges ruin'd. 
Her knots disorder'd, and her wholesome herbs 
Swarming with caterpillars ? 

Gardener. Hold thy peace. 

He that hath suffer'd this disorder'd spring 
Hath now himself met with the fall of leaf: 
The weeds that his broad-spreading leaves did shelter, 50 
That seem'd in eating him to hold him up, 
Are pluck'd up, root and all, by Bolingbroke, — 
I mean the Earl of Wiltshire, Bushy, Green. 

I Servant. What, are they dead .'' 

Gardener. They are ; and Bolingbroke 

Hath seiz'd the wasteful king. — O, what pity is it 
That he had not so trimm'd and dress'd his land 
As we this garden ! We at time of year 
Do wound the bark, the skin of our fruit-trees, 
Lest, being over-proud in sap and blood, 
With too much riches it confound itself: 60 

Had he done so to great and growing men, 
They might have liv'd to bear, and he to taste 
Their fruits of duty. Superfluous branches 
We lo.p away, that bearing boughs may live : 
Had he done so, himself had borne the crown. 
Which waste and idle hours hath quite thrown down. 

I Servant. What! think you, then, the king shall be de- 
pos'd ? 

Gardener. Depress'd he is already ; and depos'd 
'Tis doubt he will be : letters came last night 
To a dear friend of the good Duke of York's 70 

That tell black tidings. 

Queen. O, I am press'd to death through want of speak- 
ing! — \Coming forward. \ 



io8 



RICHARD II. 







Thou, old Adam's likeness, set to dress this garden, 

How dares thy harsh rude tongue sound this unpleasing 

news ? 
What Eve, what serpent hath suggested thee 



ACT III. SCENE IV. 



109 



To make a second fall of cursed man ? 

Why dost thou say King Richard is depos'd ? 

Dar'st thou, thou little better thing than earth, 

Divine his downfall ? Say, where, when, and how 

Cam'st thou by this ill tidings ?■ speak, thou wretch. 80 

Gardener. Pardon me, madam : little joy have I 
To breathe this news j yet what I say is- true. 
King Richard, he is in the mighty hold 
Of Bolingbroke : their fortunes both are weigh'd : 
In your lord's scale is nothing but himself, 
And some few vanities that make him light ; 
But in the balance of great Bolingbroke, 
Besides himself, are all the English peers. 
And with that odds he weighs King Richard down. 
Post you to London, and you'll find it so ; 90 

I speak no more than every one doth know. 

Queen. Nimble mischance, that art so light of foot, 
Doth not thy embassage belong to me, 
And am I last that knows it t O, thou think'st 
To serve me last, that I may longest keep 
Thy sorrow in my breast. — Come, ladies, go. 
To meet at London London's king in woe. — 
What ! was I born to this, that my sad look 
Should grace the triumph of great Bolingbroke ? — 
Gardener, for telling me this news of woe, 100 

Pray God the plants thou graft'st may never grow ! 

\_Exeunt Qiieen and Ladies. 
; Gardener. Poor queen ! so that thy state might be no 

worse, 
I would my skill were subject to thy curse. — ^ 

Here did she fall a tear ; here, in this place, 
I'll set a bank of rue, sour herb of grace : 
Rue, even for ruth, here shortly shall be seen, 
In the remembrance of a weeping queen. 




EXTERIOK OF WESTMINSTER HALL. 



ACT IV. 

Scene I. London. Westmmster Hall. The Lords spif'itiial 

on the right side of the throfie ; the Lords temporal 

071 the left ; the Commons below. 

Enter Bolingbroke, Aumerle, Surrey, Northumberland, 
Percy, Fitzwater, another Lord, the Bishop of Car-' 
LISLE, the Abbot of Westminster, and At- 
tendants. Officers behind with Bagot. 

Bolijigbroke. Call forth Bagot. — 
Now, Bagot, freely speak thy mind. 
What thou dost know of ngble Gloster's death ; 
Who wrought it with the king, and who perform'd 
The bloody office of his timeless end. 

Bagot. Then set before my face the Lord Aumerle. 

Bolingbroke. Cousin, stand forth, and look upon that man. 



ACT IV. SCENE I. m 

Bagot. My Lord Aumerle, I know your daring tongue 
Scorns to unsay what once it hath deliver'd. 
In that dead time when Gloster's death was plotted lo 

I heard you say, — ' Is not my arm of length, 
That reacheth from the restful English Court 
As far as Calais, to my uncle's head ?' 
Amongst much other talk, that very time, 
I heard you say that you had rather refuse 
The offer of an hundred thousand crowns 
Than Bolingbroke's return to England; 
Adding withal, how blest this land would be 
In this your cousin's death. 

Aumerle. Princes, and noble lords, 

What answer shall I make to this base man ? 20 

Shall I so much dishonour my fair stars. 
On equal terms to give him chastisement ? 
Either I must, or have mine honour soil'd 
With the attainder of his slanderous lips. — 
There is my gage, the manual seal of death, 
That marks thee out for hell : I say, thou liest. 
And will maintain what thou hast said is false 
In thy heart-blood, though being all too base 
To stain the temper of my knightly sword. 

Bolinghroke. Bagot, forbear ; thou shalt not take it up. 30 

Aunierk. Excepting one, I would he were the best 
In all this presence that hath moved me so. 

Fitzwater. If that thy valour stand on sympathies. 
There is niy gage, Aumerle, in gag« to thine : 
By that fair sun that shows me where thou stand'st, 
I heard thee say, and vauntingly thou spak'st it, ^ 
That thou wert cause of noble Gloster's death. 
If thou deni'st it twenty times, thou liest ; 
And I will turn thy falsehood to thy heart, 
Where it was forged, with my rapier's point. 40 

Aumerle. Thou dar'st not, coward, live to see the dav. 



112 RICHARD II. 

Fitzwater. Now, by my soul, I would it were this hour. 

Aumerle. Fitzwater, thou art damn'd to hell for this. 

Percy. Aumerle, thou liest ; his honour is as true 
In this appeal as thou art all unjust ; 
And that thou art so, there I throw my gage, 
To prove it on thee to the extremest point 
Of mortal breathing : seize it, if thou dar'st 

Aumerle. And if I do not, may my hands rot off, 
And never brandish more revengeful steel 50 

Over the glittering helmet of my foe ! 

Lord. I task the earth to the like, forsworn Aumerle ; 
And spur thee on with full as many lies 
As may be hoUa'd in thy treacherous ear 
From sun to sun. There is my honour's pawn ; 
Engage it to the trial, if thou dar'st. 

Aumerle. Who sets me else ? by heaven, I'll throw at all : 
I have a thousand spirits in one breast. 
To answer twenty thousand such as you. 

Surrey. My Lord Fitzwater, I do remember well 60 

The very time Aumerle and you did talk. 

Fitzwater. My lord, 't is very true : you were in presence 
And you can witness with me this is true. [then; 

Surrey. As false, by heaven, as heaven itself is true. 

Fitzwater. Surrey, thou liest. 

Surrey. Dishonourable boy ! 

That lie shall lie so heavy on my sword 
That it shall render vengeance and revenge 
Till thou, the lie-giver, and that lie do lie 
In earth as quiet as thy father's skull : 

In proof whereof, there is mine honour's pawn ; 70 

Engage it to the trial, if thou dar'st. 

Fitzwater. How fondly dost thou spur a forward horse ! 
If I dare eat, or drink, or breathe, or live, 
I dare meet Surrey in a wilderness, 
And spit upon him, whilst I say he lies, 



ACT IV. SCENE I. nj 

And lies, and lies ; there is my bond of faith, 

To tie thee to my strong correction. 

As I intend to thrive in this new world, 

Aumerle is guilty of my true appeal : 

Besides, I heard the banish'd Norfolk say so 

That thou, Aumerle, didst send two of thy men 

To execute the noble Duke at Calais. 

Aumerle. Some honest Christian trust me with a gage, 
That Norfolk lies : here do I throw down this, 
If he may be repeal'd, to try his honour. 

Bolingbroke. These differences shall all rest under gage 
Till Norfolk be repeal'd : repeal'd he shall be, 
And, though mine enemy, restor'd again 
To all his lands and signories. When he 's return'd, 
Against Aumerle we will enforce his trial. 90 

Carlisle. That honourable day shall ne'er be seen. 
Many a time hath banish'd Norfolk fought 
For Jesu Christ in glorious Christian field, 
Streaming the ensign of the Christian cross 
Against black pagans, Turks, and Saracens : 
And toil'd with works of war, retir'd himself 
To Italy ; and there, at Venice, gave 
His body to that pleasant country's earth, 
And his pure soul unto his captain Christ, 
Under whose colours he had fought so long. 

Bolingbroke. Why, bishop, is Norfolk dead t 

Carlisle. As surely as I live, my lord. 

Bolingbroke. Sweet peace conduct his sweet soul to the 
bosom 
Of good old Abraham !— Lords appellants, 
Your differences shall all rest under gage "^ 

Till we assign you to your days of trial. 

Enter York, attended. . 
York. Great Duke of Lancaster, I come to thee 

H 



114 RICHARD II. 

From plume-pluck'd Richard, who with willing soul 

Adopts thee heir, and his high sceptre yields 

To the possession of thy royal hand. no 

Ascend his throne, descending now from him, — 

And long live Henry, of that name the fourth ! 

Bolingbroke. In God's name I'll ascend the regal throne. 

Carlisle. Marry, God forbid ! — 
Worst in this royal presence may I speak, 
Yet best beseeming me to speak the truth. 
Would God that any in this noble presence 
Were enough noble to be upright judge 
Of noble Richard ! then true noblesse would 
Learn him forbearance from so foul a wrong. 120 

What subject can give sentence on his king? 
And who sits here that is not Richard's subject.^ 
Thieves are not judg'd but they are by to hear, 
Although apparent guilt be seen in them j 
And shall the figure of God's majesty, 
His captain, steward, deputy elect, 
Anointed, crowned, planted many years, 
Be judg'd by subject and inferior breath, 
And he himself not present ? O, forbid it, God, 
That, in a Christian climate, souls refin'd 130 

Should show so heinous, black, obscene a deed ! 
I speak to subjects, and a subject speaks, 
Stirr'd up by God, thus boldly for his king. 
My Lord of Hereford here, whom you call king, 
Is a foul traitor to proud Hereford's king j 
And if you crown him, let me prophesy, — 
The blood of English shall manure the ground. 
And future ages groan for this foul act ; 
Peace shall go sleep with Turks and infidels. 
And in this seat of peace tumultuous wars 140 

Shall kin with kin and kind with kind confound ; 
Disorder, horror, fear, and mutiny 



ACT IV. SCENE I. 



"5 



Shall here inhabit, and this land be call'd 

The field of Golgotha and dead men's skulls. 

O, if you rear this house against this house, 

It will the woefullest division prove 

That ever fell upon this cursed earth. 

Prevent, resist it, let it not be so, 

Lest children's children cry against you woe ! 

Northumberland. Well have you argu'd, sir; and, for your 
pains, ISO 

Of capital treason we arrest you here. — 
My Lord of Westminster, be it your charge 
To keep him safely till his day of trial. — 
May it please you, lords, to grant the commons' suit? 

Bolingbroke. Fetch hither Richard, that in common view 
He may surrender ; so we shall proceed 
Without suspicion. 

York. I will be his conduct. \Exit. 

Bolingbroke. Lords, you that here are under our arrest. 
Procure your sureties for your days of answer, — 
Little are we beholding to your love, \To Carlisle. 160 

And little look'd for at your helping hands. 

'Re-enter York, with King Richard, and Officers bearing 

the crown ^ etc. 

King Richard. Alack ! why am I sent for to a king 
Before I have shook off the regal thoughts 
Wherewith I reign'd ? I hardly yet have learn'd 
To insinuate, flatter, bow, and bend my knee : 
Give sorrow leave awhile to tutor me 
To this submission. Yet I well remember 
The favours of these men : were they not mine.'* ^ 

Did they not sometime cry. All hail! to me.? 
So Judas did to Christ : but he, in twelve, 170 

Found truth in all but one ; I, in twelve thousand, none. 
God save the king ! — Will no man say amen ? 



ii6 



RICHARD II. 



Am I both priest and clerk? Well then, amen. 
God save the king ! although I be not he ; 
And yet, amen, if heaven do think him me. — 
To do what service am I sent for hither.? 

York. To do that office of thine own good will 
Which tired majesty did make thee offer; 
The resignation of thy state and crown 
To Henry Bolingbroke. 



x8o 



King Richard. 

seize the crown; 



Give me the crown. — Here, cousin, 




AC 'J' /K SCENE I, 117 

On this bide my hand, and on that side thine. 
Now is this golden crown like a deep well 
That owes two buckets, filling one another; 
The emptier ever dancing in the air, 
The other down, unseen, and full of water: 
That bucket down and full of tears am I, 
Drinking my griefs, whilst you mount up on high. 

Bolin;{Oroke. I thought you had been willing to resign. 

Ktn;( Kichard. My crov/n I am ; but still my griefs are 
mine. 190 

You may my glories and my state depose, 
Jiut not my griefs ; still am I king of those. 

BolingOroke. Part of your cares you give me with your 
crown. 

King Richard, Your cares set up do/fiot pluck my cares 
down. 
My care is loss of care, by old care done; 
Your care is gain of care, by new care won : 
The cares I give I have, though given away; 
They tend the crown, yet still with me they stay. 

Bolingbroke, Are you contented to resign the crown ? 

King Richard. Ay, no ; — no, ay ; for I must nothing 
be; 200 

Therefore no no, for I resign to thee. 
Now mark me, how I will undo myself. — 
1 give this heavy weight from off my head, 
And this unwieldy sceptre from my hand. 
The pride of kingly sway from out my heart ; 
With mine own tears I wash away my h»alm, 
With mine own hands I give away my crown. 
With mine own tongue deny my sacred state, 
With mine own breath release all duteous oaths: **" 
All pomp and majesty 1 do forswear; 210 

My manors, rents, revenues I forego ; 
My acts, decrees, and statutes I deny : 



ii8 RICHARD II. 

God pardon all oaths that are broke to me ! 

God keep all vows unbroke that swear to thee ! 

Make me, that nothing have, with nothing griev'd, 

And thou with all pleas'd, that hast all achiev'd ! 

Long may'st thou live in Richard's seat to sit, 

And soon lie Richard in an earthy pit ! 

God save King Henry, unking'd Richard says, 

And send him many years of sunshine days! — 220 

What more remains ? 

Northumberland. . No more, but that you read 

[ Offering a paper. 
These accusations, and these grievous crimes 
Committed by your person and your followers 
Against the state and profit of this land; 
That, by confessing them, the souls of men 
May deem that you are worthily depos'd. 

Kifig Richard. Must I do so? and must I ravel out 
My weav'd-up follies? Gentle Northumberland, 
If thy offences were upon record. 

Would it not shame thee in so fair a troop . 230 

To read a lecture of them ? If thou wouldst, 
There shouldst thou find one heinous article. 
Containing the deposing of a king, 
And cracking the strong warrant of an oath, 
Mark'd with a blot, damn'd in the book of heaven. — 
Nay, all of you that stand and look upon me. 
Whilst that my wretchedness doth bait myself, 
Though some of you, with Pilate, wash your hands, 
Showing an outward pity, yet you Pilates 
Have here deliver'd me to my sour cross, 240 

And water cannot wash away your sin. 

Northumberland. My lord, despatch; read o'er these ar- 
ticles. 

King Richard. Mine eyes are full of tears, I cannot see; 
And yet salt water blinds them not so much 



ACT IV. SCENE I. 119 

But they can see a sort of traitors here. 

Nay, if I turn mine eyes upon myself, 

I find myself a traitor with the rest; * 

For I have given here my soul's consent 

To undeck the pompous body of a king; 

Made glory base, and sovereignty a slave, 250 

Proud majesty a servant, state a peasant. 

Northumberland. My lord, 

King Richard. No lord of thine, thou haught insulting man, 
Nor no man's lord; I have no name, no title. 
No, not that name was given me at the font, 
But 'tis usurped. — Alack the heavy day. 
That I have worn so many winters out, 
And know not now what name to call myself! 
O that I were a mockery king of snow. 

Standing before the sun of Bolingbroke, 260 

To melt myself away in water drops !•— 
Good king, — great king, — and yet not greatly good, — 
And if my word be sterling yet in England, 
Let it command a mirror hither straight, 
That it may show me what a face I have, 
Since it is bankrupt of his majesty. 

Bolingbroke. Go, some of you, and fetch a looking-glass. 

\Exit an Attendant. 

Northumberland. Read o'er this paper while the glass doth 
come. 

King Richard. Fiend, thou torment'st me ere I come to 
hell! 

Bolingbroke. Urge it no more, my Lord Northumber- 
land. 270 

Northumberland. The commons will not then be satisfied. 

King Richard. They shall be satisfied : I'll read enough. 
When I do see the very book indeed 
Where all my sins are writ, and that's myself. 



I20 RICHARD II. 

Re-enter Attendant with a glass. 

Give me the glass, and therein will I read. — 

No deeper wrinkles yet ? hath sorrow struck 

So many blows upon this face of mine, 

And made no deeper wounds? — O flattering glass, 

Like to my followers in prosperity. 

Thou dost beguile me ! Was this face the face 280 

That every day under his household roof 

Did keep ten thousand men ? Was this the face 

That, like the sun, did make beholders wink? 

Was this the face that fac'd so many follies, 

And was at last out-fac'd by Bolingbroke? 

A brittle glory shineth in this face : 

As brittle as the glory is the face; 

\Dashes the glass~ against the ground. 
For there it is, crack'd in a hundred shivers. — 
Mark, silent king, the moral of this sport : 
How soon my sorrow hath destroy'd my face. 290 

Bolingbroke. The shadow of your sorrow hath destroy'd 
The shadow of your face. 

King Richard. Say that again. 

The shadow of my sorrow ? Ha ! let 's see : — 
'Tis very true, my grief lies all within ; 
And these^xternal manners of lament 
Are merely shadows to the unseen grief 
That swells with silence in the tortur'd soul ; 
There lies the substance : and I thank thee, king, 
For thy great bounty, that not only giv'st 
Me cause to wail, but teachest me the way 300 

How to lament the cause. I'll beg one boon, 
And then begone and trouble you no more. 
Shall I obtain it? 

Bolingbroke. Name it, fair cousin. 

King Richard. Fair cousin! I am greater than a king: 



ACT IV. SCENE L 121 

For when I was a king, my flatterers 
Were then but subjects ; being now a subject, 
I have a king here to my flatterer. 
Being so great, I have no need to beg. 

Boliiigbroke. Yet ask. 

King Richard. And shall I have? 310 

Bolingbroke. You shall. 

King Richard. Then give me leave to go. 

Boliiigbroke. Whither? 

King Richard. Whither you will, so I were from your sights. 

Bolingbroke. Go, some of you, convey him to the Tower. 

King Richard. O, good ! Convey ? — conveyers are you all, 
That rise thus nimbly by a true king's fall. 

[Exeunt King Richard, some Lords, and a Guai'd. 

Bolingbroke. On Wednesday next we solemnly set down 
Our coronation : lords, prepare yourselves. 

\_Exeunt all but the Abbot of Westminster, 
the Bishop of Carlisle, and Aumerle. 

Abbot. A woeful pageant have we here beheld. 320 

Carlisle. The woe's to come ; the children yet unborn 
Shall feel this day as sharp to them as thorn. 

Aumerle. You holy clergymen, is there no plot 
To rid the realm of this pernicious blot? 

Abbot. My lord. 
Before I freely speak my mind herein. 
You shall not only take the sacrament 
To bury mine intents, but also to eflect 
Whatever I shall happen to devise. 

I see your brows are full of discontent, 33° 

Your hearts of sorrow, and your eyes of tears :' 
Come home with me to supper; I will lay 
A plot shall show us all a merry day. [Exeu7it. 




ACT V. 

Scene I. London. A Street leading to the Tower. 

Enter Queen and Ladies. 

Queen. This way the king will come ; this is the way 
To Julius Caesar's ill-erected tower, 
To whose flint bosom my condemned lord 



ACT V. SCENE L 



123 



Is doom'd a prisoner by proud Bolingbroke. 
Here let us rest, if this rebellious earth 
Have any resting for her true king's queen. — 

Enter King Richard and Guards. 

But soft, but see, or rather do not see, 

My fair rose wither : yet look up, behold. 

That you in pity may dissolve to dew. 

And wash him fresh again with true-love tears. — 10 

Ah, thou, the model where old Troy did stand; 

Thou map of honour ; thou King Richard's tomb, 

And not King Richard ; thou most beauteous inn, 

Why should hard-favour'd grief be lodg'd in thee. 

When triumph is become an alehouse guest.'' 

King Richard. Join not with grief, fair woman, do not so, 
To make my end too sudden : learn, good soul. 
To think our former state a happy dream ; 
From which awak'd, the truth of what we are 
Shows us but this. I am sworn brother, sweet, 20 

To grim Necessity ; and he and I 
W^ill keep a league till death. Hie thee to France, 
And cloister thee in some religious house : 
Our holy lives must win a new world's crown, 
Which our profane hours here have stricken down. 

Queen. What ! is my Richard both in shape and mind 
Transform'd and weakened? Hath Bolingbroke 
Depos'd thine intellect? Hath he been in thy heart? 
The lion, dying, thrusteth forth his paw, 
And wounds the earth, if nothing else, with rage 30 

To be o'erpower'd ; and wilt thou, pupil-like, 
Take thy correction mildly, kiss the rod. 
And fawn on rage with base humility. 
Which art a hon and a king of beasts? * [beasts, 

King Richard. A king of beasts, indeed ; if aught but 
I had been still a happy king of men. 



124 RICHARD II 

Good sometime queen, prepare thee hence for France : 

Think I am dead ; and that even here thou tak'st, 

As from my death-bed, thy last living leave. 

In winter's tedious' nights sit by the fire 40 

With good old folks, and let them tell thee tales 

Of woeful ages long ago betid j 

And ere thou bid good-night, to quit their grief 

Tell thou the lamentable tale of me. 

And send the hearers weeping to their beds. 

For why, the senseless brands will sympathize 

The heavy accent of thy moving tongue. 

And in compassion weep the fire out; 

And some will mourn in ashes, some coal-black, 

For the deposing of a rightful king. 50 

Enter Northumberland attended. 

Northumberland. My lord, the mind of Bolingbroke is 
chang'd ; 
You must to Pomfret, not unto the Tower. — 
And, madam, there is order ta'en for you ; 
With all swift speed you must away to France. 

King Richard. Northumberland, thou ladder wherewithal 
The mounting Bolingbroke ascends my throne, 
The time shall not be many hours of age 
More than it is, ere foul sin, gathering head. 
Shall break into corruption. Thou shalt think, 
Though he divide the realm, and give thee half, 60 

It is too little, helping him to all ; 
And he shall think that thou, which know'st the wjiy 
To plant unrightful kings, wilt know again, 
Being ne'er so little urg'd, another way 
To pluck him headlong from the usurped throne. 
The love of wicked'friends converts to fear ; 
That fear to hate ; and hate turns one or both 
To worthy danger and deserved death. 



ACT V. SCENE I. 



125 



Northumberland. My guilt be on my head, and there an 
end. 
Take leave, and part ; for you must part forthwith. 7° 

King Richard. Doubly divorc'd ! — Bad men, ye violate 
A twofold marriage -, 'twixt my crown and me, 
And then betwixt me and my married wife. — 
Let me unkiss the oath 'twixt thee and me ; 
And yet not so, for with a kiss 't was made. — 
Part us, Northumberland ; I towards the north. 
Where shivering cold and sickness pines the clime ; 
My wife to France, from whence, set forth in pomp. 
She came adorned hither like sweet May, 
Sent back like Hallowmas or short'st of day. 80 

Queen. And must we be divided ? must we part ? 
King Richard. Ay, hand from hand, my love, and heart 

from heart. 
Queen. Banish us both, and send the king with me. 
Northumberland. That were some love, but little policy. 
Queen, Then whither he goes thither let me go. 
King Richard. So two, together weeping, make one woe. 
Weep thou for me in France, I for thee here \ 
Better far off than near be, ne'er the near.. 
Go, count thy way with sighs ; I mine with groans. 

Queen. So longest way shall have the longest moans. 90 
King Richard. Twice for one step I'll groan, the way be- 
ing short. 
And piece the way out with a heavy heart. 
Come, come, in wooing sorrow let 's be brief, 
Since, wedding it, there is such length in grief 
One kiss shall stop our mouths, and dumbly part ; 
Thus give I mine, and thus take I thy heart. [They kiss. 

Queen. Give me mine own again ; 't were no good part 
To take on me to keep and kill thy heart. — [^They kiss again. 
So, now I have mine own again, begone, 
That I may strive to kill it with a groan. 100 



126 



RICHARD 11. 



King Richard. We make woe wanton with this fond de- 
lay : 
Once more, adieu ; the rest let sorrow say. \Exeunt. 



.1 •di' 



.'>v ' 



/^ 7 



!li.— 4 



I'V; 




ACT V. SCENE II. 12 7 

Scene II. London. A Room in the Duke of York's Palace. 
Enter York and his Duchess. 

Duchess. My lord, you told me you would tell the rest, 
When weeping made you break the story off, 
Of our two cousins coming into London. 

York. Where did I leave ? 

Duchess. At that sad stop, my lord, 

Wh^re rude misgovern'd hands from windows' tops 
Threw dust and rubbish on King Richard's head. 

York. Then, as I said, the duke, great Bolingbroke, 
Mounted upon a hot and fiery steed. 
Which his aspiring rider seem'd to know. 
With slow but stately pace kept on his course, 10 

While all tongues cried, ' God save thee, Bolingbroke !' 
You would have thought the very windows spake, 
So many greedy looks of young and old 
Through casements darted their desiring eyes 
Upon his visage ; and that all the walls 
With painted imagery had said at once, 
' Jesu preserve thee ! welcome, Bolingbroke !' 
Whilst he, from one side to the other turning, 
Bareheaded, lower than his proud steed's neck, 
Bespake them thus, — ' I thank you, countrymen :' 20 

And thus still doing, thus he pass'd along. 

Duchess. Alas, poor Richard ! where rides he the whilst ? 
York. As in a theatre the eyes of men, 
After a well-grac'd actor leaves the stage, 
Are idly bent on him that enters next, 
Thinking his prattle to be tedious ; 
Even so, or with much more contempt, men's eyes 
Did scowl on gentle Richard : no man cried, ' God save him !' 
No joyful tongue gave him his welcome home ; 
But dust was thrown upon his sacred head, 30 



128 RICHARD IL 

Which with such gentle sorrow he shook off, — 

His face still combating with tears and smiles, 

The badges of his grief and patience, — 

That had not God, for some strong purpose, steel'd 

The hearts of men, they must perforce have melted. 

And barbarism itself have pitied him. 

But heaven hath a hand in these events. 

To whose high will we bound our calm contents. 

To Bolingbroke are we sworn subjects now, 

Whose state and honour I for aye allow. 40 

Duchess. Here comes my son Aumerle. 

York. Aumerle that was ; 

But that is lost for being Richard's friend. 
And, madam, you must call him Rutland now. 
I am in Parliament pledge for his truth 
And lasting fealty to the new-made king. 

Enter Aumerle. 

Duchess. Welcome, my son : who are the violets now 
That strew the green lap of the new-come spring ? 

Aumerle. Madam, I know not, nor I greatly care not : 
God knows I had as lief be none as one. 

York. Well, bear you well in this new spring of time, 50 
Lest you be cropp'd before you come to prime. 
What news from Oxford? hold those justs and triumphs? 

Aumerle. For aught I know, my lord, they do. 

York. You will be there, I know. 

Aumerle. If God prevent it not, I purpose so. 

York. What seal is that that hangs without thy bosom ? 
Yea, look'st thou pale ? let me see the writing. 

Aumerle. My lord, 'tis nothing. 

York. No matter, then, who sees it. 

I will be satisfied ; let me see the writing. 

Awnerle. I do beseech your grace to pardon me. 60 

It is a matter of small consequence. 
Which for some reasons I would not have seen. 



ACT V. SCENE II. 



129 



York. Which for some reasons, sir, I mean to see. 
I fear, I fear, — 

Duchess. What should you fear ? 

'T is nothing but some bond that he is enter'd into 
For gay apparel 'gainst the triumph-day. 

York. Bound to himself! what doth he with a bond 
That he is bound to ? Wife, thou art a fool. — 
Boy, let me see the writing. 

Aumerle. I do beseech you, pardon me \ I may not show it. 

York. I will be satisfied ; let me see it, I say. 71 

\Snatches it, and reads. 
Treason ! foul treason ! — villain ! traitor ! slave ! 

Duchess. What's the matter, my lord ? 

York. Ho ! who's within there ? 

Enter a Servant. 

Saddle my horse. 
God for his mercy, what treachery is here ! 

Duchess. Why, what is 't, my lord ? 

York. Give me my boots, I say ; saddle my horse. — 
Now, by mine honour, by my life, my troth, 
I will appeach the villain. \Exit Servant. 

Duchess. What's the matter? 

York. Peace, foolish woman. ^ 80 

Duchess. I will not peace. — What is the matter, son ? 

Aumerle. Good mother, be content; it is no more 
Than my poor life must answer. 

Duchess. Thy life answer ! 

York. Bring me my boots : — I will unto the king. 

Re-enter Servant with boots. 

Duchess. Strike him, Aumerle. — Poor boy, thou art 
amaz'd. — ^ • . 

Hence, villain ! never more come in my sight. 

\To the ServaJit. 
I 



130 RICHARD //. 

York. Give me my boots, I say. 

Duchess. Why, York, what wilt thou do ? 
Wilt thou not hide the trespass of thine own? 
Have we more sons, or are we like to have? 90 

Is not my teeming date drunk up with time ? 
And wilt thou pluck my fair son from mine age, 
And rob me of a happy mother's name?" 
Is he not like thee? is he not thine own? 

York. Thou fond mad woman. 
Wilt thou conceal this dark conspiracy ? 
A dozen of them here have ta'en the sacrament, 
And interchangeably set down their hands, 
To kill the king at Oxford. 

Duchess. He shall be none ; 

We'll keep him here : then what is that to him ? 100 

Yo7'k. Away, fond woman ! were he twenty times my son 
I would appeach him. 

Duchess. Hadst thou groan'd for him 

As I have done, thou wouldst be more pitiful. 
But now I know thy mind ; thou dost suspect 
That I have been disloyal to thy bed, 
And that he is a bastard, not thy son. 
Sweet York, sweet husband, be not of that mind : 
He is as like thee as a man may be. 
Not like to me, nor any of my kin, 
And yet I love him. 

York. Make way, unruly woman ! \Exit. no 

Duchess. After, Aumerle, ! mount thee upon his horse; 
Spur, post, and get before him to the king, 
And beg thy pardon ere he do accuse thee. 
I'll not be long behind ; though I be old, 
I doubt not but to ride as fast as York. 
And never will I rise up from the ground 
Till Bolingbroke have pardon'd thee. Away, begone ! 

\Exeunt. 



ACT V. SCENE III. 131 



Scene III. Windsor. A Room in the Castle. 
Enter Bolingbroke as King^ Percy, and other Lords. 

' Bolifigbroke. Can no man tell of my unthrifty son ? 
'T is full three months since I did see him last : ^ » 

If any plague hang over us, 't is he. 
I would to God, my lords, he might be found. 
Inquire at London, 'mongst the taverns there, 
For there, they say, he d'aily doth frequent, 
With unrestrained loose companions, 
Even such, they say, as stand in narrow lanes, 
And beat our watch, and rob our passengers ; 
While he, young wanton and effeminate boy, ic 

Takes on the point of honour to support 
So dissolute a crew. 

Percy. My lord, some two days since I saw the prince. 
And told him of these triumphs held at Oxford. 

Bolingbroke. And what said the gallant? 

Percy. His answer was, — he would unto the stews, 
And from the common'st creature pluck a glove, 
And wear it as a favour; and with that 
He would unhorse the lustiest challenger. 

Bolingbroke. As dissolute as desperate : yet through both 
I see some sparks of better hope, 21 

Which elder days may happily bring forth. — 
But who comes here ? 

Enter Aumerle hastily. 
Aumerle. Where is the king? 

Bolingbroke. ' What means 

Our cousin, that he stares and looks so wildly ? 

Aumerle. God save your grace ! I do beseech your maj- 
esty. 
To have some conference with your grace alone. 



132 



RICHARD IL 



Bolingbroke. Withdraw yourselves, and leave us here 
alone. — [Exeunt Percy and Lords. 

What is the matter with our cousin now ? 

Auinerle. For ever may my knees grow to the earth, 30 

\Kneels. 
My tongue cleave to my roof within my mouth, 
Unless a pardon ere I rise or speak. 




ACT V. SCENE III. 133 

Bolingbroke. Intended or committed was this fault ? 
If on the first, how heinous e'er it be, 
To win thy after love I pardon thee. 

Aumerle. Then give me leave that I may turn the key, 
That no man enter till my tale be done. 

Bolingbroke. Have thy desire. [Attmerle locks the door. 

York \unt?iiti\. My liege, beware ! look to thyself; 
Thou hast a traitor in thy presence there. 40 

Bolingbroke. Villain, I'll make thee safe. \_Drawing. 

Aumerle. Stay thy revengeful hand ; thou hast no cause 
to fear. 

York \7uithin\ Open the door, secure foolhardy king : 
Shall I, for love, speak treason to thy face ? 
Open the door, or I will break it open. 

[Bolingbroke opens the door and locks it again. 

Enter York. 

Bolingbroke. What is the matter, uncle.? speak; 
Recover breath ; tell us how near is danger. 
That we may arm us to encounter it. 

York. Peruse this writing here, and thou shalt know 
The treason that my haste forbids me show. so 

Aumerle. Remember, as thou read'st, thy promise pass'd. 
I do repent me ; read not my name there : 
My heart is not confederate with my hand. 

York. It was, villain, ere thy hand did set it down. — 
I tore it from the traitor's bosom, king ; 
Fear, and not love, begets his penitence. 
Forget to pity him, lest thy pity prove 
A serpent that will sting thee to the heart. 

Bolingbroke. O heinous, strong, and bold conspiracy ! — 
O loyal father of a treacherous son ! 60 

Thou sheer, immaculate, and silver fountain, 
From whence this stream through muddy passages 
Hath held his current and defil'd himself! 



134 



RICHARD 11. 



Thy overflow of good converts to bad, 
And thy abundant goodness shall excuse 
This deadly blot in thy digressing son. 

York. So shall my virtue be his vice's bawd, 
And he shall spend mine honour with his shame, 
As thriftless sons their scraping fathers' gold. 
Mine honour lives when his dishonour dies, ^o 

Or my sham'd life in his dishonour lies: 
Thou kill'st me in his life; giving him breath, 
The traitor lives, the true man's put to death. [me in. 

Duchess \_within\. What ho, my liege ! for God's sake, let 

Bolingbroke. What shrill-voic'd suppliant makes this eager 
cry? 

Duchess. A woman, and thine aunt, great king; 't is I. 
Speak with me, pity me, open the door : 
A beggar begs that never begg'd before. 

Bolingbroke. Our scene is alter'd from a serious thing, 
And now chang'd to The Beggar a?id the King. — 80 

My dangerous cousin, let your mother in : 
I know she's come to pray for your foul sin. 

\AumerIe unlocks the door. 

York. If thou do pardon, whosoever pray. 
More sins for this forgiveness prosper may. 
This fester'd joint cut off, the rest rests sound; 
This let alone will all the rest confound. 

Enter Duchess. 

Duchess. O king, believe not this hard-hearted man ! 
Love, loving not itself, none other can. 

York. Thou frantic woman, what dost thou make here ? 
Shall thy old dugs once more a traitor rear.? 90 

Duchess. Sweet York, be patient. — Hear me, gentle liege. 

\Kneels. 

Bolingbroke. Rise up, good aunt. 

Duchess. Not yet, I thee beseech : 



, ACT V. SCENE III. 135 

For ever will I kneel upon my knees, 
And never see day that the happy sees 
Till thou give joy; until thou bid me joy, 
By pardoning Rutland, my transgressing boy. 

Aumerle. Unto my mother's prayers I bend my knee. 

\Kneels. 

York. Against them both my true joints bended be. 

[Kneels. 
Ill mayst thou thrive, if thou grant any grace ! 

Duchess. Pleads he in earnest? look upon his face; ico 
His eyes do drop no tears, his prayers are in jest; 
His words come from his mouth, ours from our breast : 
He prays but faintly, and would be denied ; 
We pray with heart and soul, and all beside : 
His weary joints would gladly rise, I know; 
•Our knees shall kneel till to the ground they grow : 
His prayers are full of false hypocrisy; 
Ours of true zeal and deep integrity. 
Our prayers do out-pray his ; then let them have 
That mercy which true prayers ought to have. no 

Bolingbroke. Good aunt, stand up. 

Duchess. Nay, do not say ' stand up ;' 

But 'pardon' first, and afterwards 'stand up.' 
And if I were thy nurse, thy tongue to teach, 
'Pardon' should be the first word of thy speech. 
I never long'd to hear a word till now; 
Say 'pardon,' king; let pity teach thee how : 
The word is short, but not so short as sweet; 
No word like 'pardon' for kings' mouths so meet. 

York. Speak it in French, king; s,2iy pardo?tnez-moi. 

Duchess. Dost thou teach pardon pardon to destroy 1 120 
Ah, my sour husband, my hard-hearted lord. 
That sett'st the word itself against the word ! — 
Speak 'pardon' as 'tis current in our land; 
The chopping French we do not understand. 



136 



RICHARD II. 



Thine eye begins to speak, set thy tongue there ; 
Or in thy piteous heart plant thou thine ear, 
That hearing how our plaints and prayers do pierce, 
Pity may move thee 'pardon' to rehearse. 

Bolingbroke. Good aunt, stand up. 

Duchess. I do not sue to stand; 

Pardon is all the suit I have in hand. 130 

Bolmgbroke. I pardon him, as God shall pardon me. 

Duchess. O happy vantage of a kneeling knee ! 
Yet am I sick for fear : speak it again ; 
Twice saying ' pardon ' doth not pardon twain, 
But makes one pardon strong. 

Bolingbroke. > With all my heart 

I pardon him. 

Duchess. A god on earth thou art. 

Bolingbroke. But for our trusty brother-in-law, and the* 
abbot. 
With all the rest of that consorted crew, 
Destruction straight shall dog them at the heels. — 
Good uncle, help to order several powers 140 

To Oxford, or where'er these traitors are : 
They shall not live within this world, I swear, 
But I will have them, if I once know where. 
Uncle, farewell, — and, cousin mine, adieu ; 
Your mother well hath pray'd, and prove you true. 

Duchess. Come, my old son : — I pray God make thee new. 

\ExeuTtt. 

Scene IV. The Same. 
Enter Sir Pierce of Exton and a Servant. 

Ex'07i. Didst thou not mark the king, what words he 
spake? — 
'Have I no friend will rid me of this living fear?' 
Was it not so ? 



ACT V. SCENE V. 



137 



Setvant. Those were his very words. 

Exton. ' Have I no friend ?' quoth he : \\t spake it twice, 
And urg'd it twice together, did he not? 

Servant. He did. 

Exton. And, speaking it, he wistly look'd on me. 
As who should say, — I would thou wert the man 
That would divorce this terror from my heart; 
Meaning the king at Pomfret. Come, let 's go : 10 

1 am the king's friend, and will rid his foe. \Exeunt. 

Scene V. Pomfret. The Dungeon of the Castle. 
Enter King Richard. 

King Richard. I have been studying how I may com- 
pare 
This prison where I live unto the world : 
And, for because the world is populous, 
And here is not a creature but myself, 
I cannot do it; yet I'll hammer it out. 
My brain I'll prove the female to my soul. 
My soul the father ; and these two beget 
A generation of still-breeding thoughts. 
And these same thoughts people this little world, 
In humours like the people of this world, 10 

For no thought is contented. The better sort, 
As thoughts of things divine, are intermix'd 
With scruples, and do set the word itself 
Against the word : 

As thus, — *Come, little ones;' and then again, — 
' It is as hard to come as for a camel 
To thread the postern of a needle's eye.' 
Thoughts tending to ambition, they do plot 
Unlikely wonders : how these vain weak nails 
May tear a passage through the flinty ribs 20 

Of this hard world, my ragged prison walls; 



138 RICHARD IL 

And, for they cannot, die in their own pride. 

Thoughts tending to content flatter themselves 

That they are not the first of fortune's slaves, 

Nor shall not be the last; like silly beggars. 

Who, sitting in the stocks, refuge their shame, 

That many have, and others must sit there ; 

And in this thought they find a kind of ease, 

Bearing their own misfortune on the back 

Of such as have before endur'd the like. 30 

Thus play I, in one person, many people. 

And none contented: sometimes am I king; 

Then treason makes me wish myself a beggar, 

And so I am : then crushing penury 

Persuades me I was better when a king; 

Then am I king'd again : and by and by 

Think that I am unking'd by Bolingbroke, 

And straight am nothing. — But whate'er I am, 

Nor I, nor any man that but man is. 

With nothing shall be pleas'd till he be eas'd 40 

With being nothing. — Music do I hear .? [Music. 

Ha, ha ! keep time. — How sour sweet music is 

When time is broke and no proportion kept ! 

So is it in the music of men's lives : 

And here have I the daintiness of ear 

To hear time broke in a disorder'd string ; 

But, for the concord of my state and time, 

Had not an ear to hear my true time broke. 

I wasted time, and now doth Time waste me; 

For now hath Time made me his numbering clock: 

My thoughts are minutes, and with sighs they jar 

Their watches on unto mine eyes, the outward watch, 

Whereto my finger, like a dial's point, 

Is pointing still, in cleansing them from tears. 

Now, for the sounds that tell what hour it is. 

Are clamorous groans, that strike upon my heart, 



so 



139 



ACT V. SCENE V. 

Which is the bell : so sighs, and tears, and groans 

Show minutes, times, and hours ; but my time 

Runs posting on in BoHngbroke's proud joy, 

While I stand fooling here, his Jack o' the clock. 60 

This music mads me : let it sound no more; 

For though it have holp madmen to their wits, 

In me it seems it will make wise men mad. 

Yet blessing on his heart that gives it me ! 

For 'tis a sign of love, and love to Richard 

Is a strange brooch in this all-hating world. 

Enter Groom. 

Groom. Hail, royal prince ! 

King Richard. Thanks, noble peer; 

The cheapest of us is ten groats too dear. 
What art thou ? and how com'st thou hither, 
Where no man ever comes but that sad dog 70 

That brings me food to make misfortune live? 

Groom. I was a poor groom of thy stable, kin^. 
When thou wert king; who, travelling towards York, 
With much ado at length have gotten leave 
To look upon my sometimes royal master's face. 
O, how it yearn'd my heart when I beheld 
In London streets that coronation day, » 
When Bolingbroke rode on roan Barbary, 
That horse that thou so often hast bestrid, 
That horse that I so carefully have dress'd ! 80 

King Richard. Rode he on Barbary.? Tell me, gentle 
friend. 
How went he under him.? 

Groom. So proud as if he had disdain'd the ground. 

King Richard. So proud that Bolingbroke was on his back! 
That jade hath eat bread from my royal hand; 
This hand hath made him proud with clapping him. 
Would he not stumble t would he not fall down,— 



140 



RICHARD II. 




Since pride must have a fall, — and break the neck 
Of that proud man that did usurp his back ? 
Forgiveness, horse ! wh}^ do I rail on thee, 
Since thou, created to be awed bv man, 



go 



ACT V. SCENE V. l^i 

Wast born to bear? I was not made a horse; 
And yet I bear a burden like an ass, 
Spur-gaird and tir'd by jauncing Bolingbroke. 

Enter Keeper with a dish. 
Keeper. Fellow, give place; here is no longer stay. 

\To the Groom. 
King Richard. If thou love me, 't is time thou wert away. 
Groom. What my tongue dares not, that my heart shall 
say. {Exit. 

Keeper. My lord, will 't please you to fall to t 
King Richard. Taste of it first, as thou art wont to do. 
Keeper. My lord, I dare not. Sir Pierce of Exton, who loo 
lately came from the king, commands the contrary. 

King Richard. The devil take Henry of Lancaster and 
thee ! 
Patience is stale, and I am weary of it. [Beats the Keeper. 
Keeper. Help, help, help ! 

Enter Exton and Servants armed. 

King Richard. How now! what means death in this rpde 
assault ? 
Villain, thine own hand yields thy death's instrument. 

\_Snatching a tveapon, and killing one. 
Go thou, and fill another room in hell. 

{He kills another; then Exton strikes him doum. 
That hand shall burn in never-quenching fire 
That staggers thus my person.— Exton, thy fierce hand 
Hath with the king's blood stain'd the king's own land. 
Mount, mount, my soul ! thy seat is up on high. 
Whilst my gross flesh sinks downward, here to die. {Dies. 

Exton. As full of valour as of royal blood : 
Both have I spilt;— O, would the deed were good ! 
For now the devil, that told m'e I did well, 
Says that this deed is chronicled in hell. 



14: 



RICHARD 11. 



This dead king to the living king I'll bear. — 

Take hence the rest, and give them burial here. [^Exeunt. 

Scene VI. Windsor. A Room in the Castle. 

Flourish. Enter Bolingbroke as King^ York, Lords, and 

Attendants. 

Bolingbroke. Kind uncle York, the latest news we hear ' 
Is that the rebels have consum'd with fire 
Our town of Cicester in Glostershire ; 
But whether they be ta'en or slain we hear not. 

Enter Northumberland. 

Welcome, my lord : what is the news ? 

Nor thwnber land. First, to thy sacred state wish I all hap 
piness. 
The next news is, I have to London sent 
The heads of Salisbury, Spencer, Blunt, and Kent : 
The manner of their taking may appear 
At large discoursed in this paper here. lo 

\Presenting a paper. 

Bolingbroke. We thank thee, gentle Percy, for thy pains. 
And to thy worth will add right worthy gains. 

Enter Fitzwater. 

Fitzivater. My lord, I have from Oxford sent to London 
The heads of Brocas and Sir Bennet Seely, 
Two of the dangerous consorted traitors 
That sought at Oxford thy dire overthrow. 

Boli?igbroke. Thy pains, Fitzwater, shall not be forgot ; 
Right noble is thy merit, well I wot. 

Enter Percy, with the Bishop of Carlisle. 

Percy. The grand conspirator, Abbot of Westminster, 
With clog of conscience and sour melancholy, 20 



ACT V. SCENE VI. 143 

Hath yielded up his body to the grave ; 

But here is Carlisle living, to abide 

Thy kingly doom and sentence of his pride. 

Bolingbroke. Carlisle, this is your doom : — 
Choose out some secret place, some reverend room, 
More than thou hast, and with it joy thy life ; 
So as thou liv'st in peace, die free from strife : 
For though mine enemy thou hast ever been, 
High sparks of honour in thee have I seen. 

E7iter ExTON, with Attendants bearing a coffin. 

Exfon. Great king, within this coffin I present 30 

Thy -buried fear j- herein all breathless lies 
The mightiest of thy greatest enemies, 
Richard of Bordeaux, by me hither brought. 

Boli7igbroke. Exton, I thank thee not; for thou hast wrought 
A deed of slander, with thy fatal hand. 
Upon my head and all this famous land. 

Exton. From your own mouth, my lord, did I this deed. 

Bolingbroke. They love not poison that do poison need, 
Nor do I thee : though I did wish him dead, 
I hate the murtherer, love him murthered. 40 

The guilt of conscience take thou for thy labour. 
But neither my good word nor princely favour : 
With Cain go wander through the shades of night, 
And never show thy head by day nor light. — 
Lords, I protest, ray soul is full of woe. 
That blood should sprinkle me to make me grow : 
Come, mourn with me for that I do lament. 
And put on sullen black incontinent. 
I'll make a voyage to the Holy Land, 

To wash this blood off from my guilty hand. — 50 

March sadly after ; grace my mournings here, 
In weeping after this untimely bier. {^Exeunt. 




" You holy clergymen, is there no plot 
To rid the realm of this pernicious blot?" 

{Act iv. See fie i.) 



NOTES. 



K 



ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE NOTES. 

Abbott (or Gr.), Abbott's Shakespearian Grammar (third edition). 
Adv. of L., Bacon's Advancement of Learning. 
,A. S., Anglo-Saxon. 
B. and F. , Beaumont and Fletcher. 

B. J., Ben Jonson. 

C, Craik's English of Shakespeare (Rolfe's edition). 

Camb. ed., " Cambridge edition" oi Shakespeare, edited by Clark and Wright. 

Cf. {confer), compare. 

Coll., Collier. 

Coll. MS., Manuscript Corrections of Second Folio, edited by Collier. 

C. P. ed., " Clarendon Press " edition oi Richard II. 

D., Dyce. 

F., Fowler's English Language (8vo edition). 

F. Q., Spenser's Faerie Queene. 

Foil., following. 

H., Hudson. 

Hen. VIII. (followed by reference to page), Rolfe's edition oi Henry VIII. 

Id. {idem), the same. 

Ind., Induction. 

J., Johnson. 

J. C. (followed by reference to page), Rolfe's edition of Julitis Ccesar. 

K., Knight. 

Matzner, English Grammar, trans, by Grece (London, 1874). 

Mer., Rolfe's edition of The Merchant of Venice. 

Nares, Glossary, edited by Halliwell and Wright (London, 1859). 
• P. L., Milton's Paradise Lost. 

Pro!., Prologue. 

S., Shakespeare. 

Schmidt, A. Schmidt's Shakespeare-Lexicon (Berlin, 1874). 

Shep. Kal., Spenser's Shepherd's Kalendar. 

Sr., Singer. 

St., Staunton. 

Temp, (followed by reference to page), Rolfe's edition of The Tempest. 

Theo., Theobald. 

Var. ed., the Variorum, edition of Shakespeare (1821). 

W., White. 

Walker, Wm. Sidney Walker's Critical Exainifiation of the Text of Shakespeare 
(London, i860). 

Wb., Webster's Dictionary (revised quarto edition of 1864). 

Wore, Worcester's Dictionary (quarto edition). 

The abbreviations of the names of Shakespeare's Plays will be readily understood ; as 
T. N. for T-welfth Night, Cor. for Coriolajius, 3 Hen. VI. for The Third Part of King 
Henry the Sixth, etc. • P. P. refers to The Passionate Pilgrim ; V. aftd A . to Venus 
and Adonis ; L. C. to A Lover's Complaint ; and Sonn. to the Sonnets. 



NOTES. 




Scene I. — Most of the editors place the scene in London, but accord- 
ing to Holinshed (see extract below) it occurred "within the castle of 
Windsor." The early quartos and folios do not indicate where the scene 
is laid. 

The following is Holinshed's account of the events referred to in this 
scene, the spelling being modernized : 

" It fell forth that in this parliament holden at Shrewsbury, Henry, 
Duke of Hereford, accused Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, of cer- 
tain words which he should utter in talk had betwixt them, as they rode 
together lately before betwixt London and Brainford, sounding highly to 
the King's dishonour. And for further proof thereof, he presented a sup- 
plication to the King, wherein he appealed the Duke of Norfolk in field 
of battle for a traitor, false and disloyal to the King, and enemy unto the 
realm. This supplication was read before both the dukes in presence of 
the King : which done, the Duke of Norfolk took upon him to answer it, 



148 NOTES. 

declaring that whatsoever the Duke of Hereford liad said against him 
other than well he lied falsely, like an untrue knight as he was : and 
when the King asked of the Duke of Hereford what he said to it, he, 
taking his hood off his head, said : ' My sovereign lord, even as a suppli- 
cation which I took you importeth, right so I say for truth, that Thomas 
Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, is a traitor, false and disloyal to your Royal 
Majesty, your crown, and to all the states of your realm.' 

" Then the Duke of Norfolk being asked what he said to this, he an- 
swered : ' Right dear lord, with your favour that I make answer into 
your cousin here, I say (your reverence saved) that Henry of Lancaster, 
Duke of Hereford, like a false and disloyal traitor as he is, doth lie in 
that he hath or shall say of me otherwise than well.' ' No more,' said the 
King; 'we have heard enough :' and herewith commanded the Duke of 
Surrey, for that turn Marshal of England, to arrest, in his name, the two 
dukes." 

The narrative proceeds to state that Norfolk was imprisoned in Wind- 
sor Castle, while the Duke of Lancaster and others became sureties for 
the appearance of Hereford. 

The play opens with the facts described as follows : " Now, after the 
dissolving of the parliament at Shrewsbury, there was a day appointed, 
about six weeks after, for the King to come unto Windsor to hear and to 
take some order betwixt the two dukes which had thus appealed each 
other. There was a great scaffold erected within the Castle of Windsor 
for the King to sit with the lords and prelates of his realm ; and so, at 
the day appointed, he, with the said lords and prelates, being come thith- 
er and set in their places, the Duke of Hereford, appellant, and the Duke 
of Norfolk, defendant, were sent for to come and appear before the King 
sitting there in his seat of justice. . . . The King commanded the Dukes 
of Aumerle and Surrey, the one being constable and the other marshal, 
to go unto the two dukes, appellant and defendant, requiring them, on 
his behalf, to grow to some agreement, and, for his part, he would be 
ready to pardon all that had been said or done amiss betwixt them touch- 
ing any harm or dishonour to him or his realm ; but they answered both 
assuredly that it was not possible to have any peace or agreement made 
betwixt them. When he heard what they had answered, he commanded 
that they should be brought forthwith before his presence, to hear what 
they would say. . . . When they were come before the King and lords, 
the King spake himself to them, willing them to agree and make peace 
together, 'for it is,' said he, ' the best way ye can take.' 

"The Duke of Norfolk, with due reverence, hereunto answered that it 
could not be so brought to pass, his honour saved. Then the King asked 
of the Duke of Hereford what it was that he demanded of the Duke of 
Norfolk, and what is the matter that ye cannot make peace together, and 
become friends ? 

" Then stood forth a knight, that asking and obtaining a license to 
speak for the Duke of Hereford, said : ' Right dear and sovereign lord, 
here is Henry of Lancaster, Duke of Hereford and Earl of Derby, who 
saith, and I for him likewise say, that Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Nor- 
folk, is a false and disloyal traitor to you and your Royal Majesty, and to 



ACT I. SCENE L 



149 



your whole realm : and likewise the Duke of Hereford saith, and I for 
him, that Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, hath received 8000 nobles 
to pay the soldiers that keep your town of Calais, which he hath not done 
as he ought : and furthermore, the said Duke of Norfolk hath been the 
occasion of all the treason that hath been contrived in your realm for the 
space of these eighteen years, and by his false suggestions and malicious 
counsel hath caused to die and to be murdered your right dear uncle, the 
Duke of Gloucester, son to King Edward. Moreover, the, Duke of Here- 
ford saith, and I for him, that he will prove this with his body, against 
the body of the said Duke of Norfolk, within lists.' 

" The King herewith waxed angry, and asked the Duke of Hereford if 
these were his words, who answered : * Right dear lord, they are my 
words, and hereof I require right and the battle against him.' 

" There was a knight also that asked license to speak for the Duke of 
Norfolk, and obtaining it, began to answer thus : ' Right dear sovereign 
lord, here is Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, who answereth and 
saith, and I for him, that all that Henry of Lancaster hath said and de- 
clared (saving the reverence due to the King and his council) is a lie, and 
the said Henry of Lancaster hath falsely and wickedly lied, as a false and 
disloyal knight, and both hath been and is a traitor against you, your 
crown. Royal Majesty, and realm. This will I prove and defend as 
becometh a loyal knight to do, with my body against his.' . . . 

" The King then demanded of the Duke of Norfolk if these were his 
words, and whether he had any more to say. The Duke of Norfolk then 
answered for himself: * Right dear sir, true it is that I have received so 
much gold to pay your people of the town of Calais, which I have done ; 
and I do avouch that your town of Calais is as well kept at your com- 
mandment as ever it was at any time before, and that there never hath 
been by any of Calais any complaint made unto you of me. Right dear 
and my sovereign lord, for the voyage that I made into France about 
your marriage I never received either gold or silver of you, nor yet for 
the voyage that the Duke of Aumerle and I made into Almaigne, where 
we spent great treasure. Marry, true it is that once I laid an ambush to 
have slain the Duke of Lancaster that there sitteth ; but, nevertheless, 
he hath pardoned me thereof, and there was good peace made betwixt 
us, for the which I yield him hearty thanks. This is that which I have 
to answer, and am ready to defend myself against mine adversary. I 
beseech you, therefore, of right, and to have the battle against him in 
upright judgment.' 

"After this, when the King had communed with his council a little, he 
commanded the two dukes to stand forth, that their answers might be 
heard. The King then caused them once again to be asked if they would 
agree and make peace together, and they both flatly answered that they 
would not ; and withal the Duke of Herefor-d cast down his gage, and 
the Duke of Norfolk took it up. The King, perceiving this demeanour 
betwixt them, swore by St. John Baptist that he would never seek to 
make peace betwixt them again. And therewith Sir John Bushy, in 
name of the King and his council, declared that the King and his council 
had commanded and^ordained that they should have a day of battle ap- 



I50 



NOTES. 



pointed them at Coventry. Here writers disagree about the day that 
was appointed ; for some say it was upon a Monday in August ; others 
upon St. Lambert's Day, being the 17th of September; others on the 
nth of September. But true it is that the King assigned them not 
only the day, but also appointed them lists and place for the combat ; 
and thereupon great preparation was made, as to such a matter apper- 
tained." 

1. Old John of Gaunt. John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the fourth 
son of Edward IIL, was born at Ghent in Flanders ; whence his surname. 
As he was born in 1340, he was only fifty-eight years of age at the time 
when the play opens. Some of the editors seem to think that it is for 
poetical effect that S. represents Gaunt as a very old man ; but he speaks 
in accordance with the common estimate of age in that day, when the 
average duration of life was considerably less than now. Malone re- 
marks that Daniel, in his poem of Rosamond, describes King Henry as 
extremely old, though he was only fifty-six when he died. Spenser calls 
Robert, Earl of Leicester, an old man in 1582, but he was not then fifty ; 
and Coligny is represented by his biographer. Lord Huntington, as an 
aged man, though he died at fifty-three. Many other examples of the 
kind might be given. 

2. Band. That is, bond, the words being formerly interchangeable. 
Cf. C. of E. iv. 2. 49 : " Tell me, was he arrested on a band ?" and again 
Id. iv. 3. 32 : " he that brings any man to answer it that breaks his band." 
The reference here is to the pledges that Gaunt had given for his son's 
appearance. See extract from Holinshed above. 

3. Hereford. The word is generally spelled Herford or Harford in 
the early eds. Henry was called Bolmgbroke from his birthplace in Lin- 
colnshire. 

4. The boisterous late appeal. The violent accusation at Shrewsbury 
six weeks before. See Holinshed above. .(4//^^/= impeachment. Cf. 
A. and C. iii. 5. 12 : " upon his own appeal." The verb is used in a sim- 
ilar sense, as below in lines 9 and 27; also in i. 3. 21 : "the Duke of 
Hereford that appeals me." 

12. Argument. Matter, subject ; as often. 

13. Apparent. Evident, manifest. Cf. y. C ii. i. 198 : "these appar- 
ent prodigies," and see note in our ed. It is used in the same sense in 
iv. I. 124 : " apparent guilt." 

16. Ourselves. S. uses ourselves and our self interchangeably in this 
II regal" sense. Cf. J. C. iii. i. 8 : "What touches us ourself," etc. In 
iii. 3. 127, below, the quartos have our selves, the folio otcr selfe. 

i2). High-stomach' d. High - tempered, proud. Ci. stomach=-pr\dt, \n 
Hen. VIII. iv. 2. 34: "Of an unbounded stomach." In Temp.\. 2. 157 
(see our note) it means courage, as in Heti. V. iv. 3. 35 : " He which hath 
no stomach to this fight," etc. 

20. Many years, etc. Pope suggested " May many," which D. adopts. 
The Coll. MS. has " Full many." Abbott (Gr. 480) thinks that " years " 
may perhaps be read as a dissyllable. 

22. Other'' s. On the omission of the article cf. % C. i. 2. 230 : " every 



ACT I. SCENE I. 151 

time gentler than other ;" 0th. ii. 3. 183 : " tilting one at other's breast ;" 
i]/. iV. Z>. iii. 2. 239 : '* Wink each at other," etc. Gr. 12. 

23. Envying. Accent on second syllable, as in T. of S. ii. i. 18 : " Is it 
for him you do envy me so ?" Gr. 490. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. iii. i, 13 : 

"Let later age that noble use envy;" 
and Id. iv. 4, 44 : 

"Which Cambell seeing much the same envyde." 

26. The cause you come. That is, on ox for which you come. Cf. i Hen. 

VI. ii. 5. 55 : 

"Declare the cause 
My father, Earl of Cambridge, lost his head;" 

and see Gr. 244. 

28. Object. Used transitively and in a stronger sense than now. Cf. 
I Hen. VI. ii. 4. 116: "This blot that they object against your house." 
The preposition to is used after it in Rich. III. ii. 4- i? : "In him that did 
object the same to thee." 

32. Tendering. Cherishing, holding dear ; as often in S. Cf. Rich. 

III. ii. 4 72 : 

"and so betide to me 
As well I tender you and all of yours !" 

Hen. V. ii. 2. 175 : "But we our kingdom's safety must so tender;" R. 
and y. iii. i. 74 : *' which name I tender As dearly as my own ;" etc. 

33. And free from other misbegotten hate. This is the reading of all 
the early eds. The Coll. MS. has "wrath or misbegotten hate," but 
Coll. does not adopt it in his 2d ed. 

Misbegotten — '■'■ oi 2. bad origin" (Schmidt). 

34. Appellant. The modern spelling of appealant=vav^^2,^tx, accus- 
er. See on 4. 

38. Divine. Partaking of the nature of God, proceeding from God. 
Cf. A. W. iii. 6. 33 : " the divine forfeit of his soul " = the forfeit of his di- 
vine soul (C. P. ed.). 

43- To aggravate the note. To intensify the stigma. Cf. R. of L. 208 : 

"That my posterity, sham'd with the note, 
Shall curse my bones;" 

and L. L. L. v. 2. 75 : 

" Folly in fools bears not so strong a note. 
As foolery in the wise, when wit doth dote." 

46. Right-drawn. " Drawn in a right or just cause " (Johnson). 

49. Eager. Sharp. Cf. Ham. i. 4. 2 : "a nipping and an eager air ;" 
3 Hen. VI. ii. 6. 68; "vex him with eager swords." The word is the 
French aigre, Latin acer, sharp, sour. It means sour in Ham. i. 5. 69 : 
" like eager droppings into milk ;" and in Sonn. 118. 2 : 

" Like as, to make our appetites more keen, 
With eager compounds we our palate urge ;" 

that is, with piquant or " bitter sauces," as explained in the context. 

50. Can arbitrate. That can decide. Gr. 244. 



152 



NOTES. 



54. Fair reverence. Just or becoming reverence. Cf. below, iii. 3. 188 : 
'* fair duty to his majesty." 

56. Post. Speed, hasten. Cf. iii. 4. 90, and v. 2. 112. 

57. Doubled. The folio has " doubly." 

63. Tied. Bound, obliged. Cf. T. ofS. i. i. 217 : "And I am tied to be 
obedient." 

65. Inhabitable. Not habitable. Steevens quotes B. J., Catiline, v. i. 
54 : "And pour'd on some inhabitable place." Cf T. Heywood's Gen. . 
Hist, of Women (1624) : " Where all the country was scorched by the 
heat of the sun, and the place almost inhabitable for the multitude of 
serpents." S. uses the word nowhere else. 

On the passage cf Macb. iii. 4. 104 : " dare me to the desert with thy 
sword." 

67. This. That is, this protest. 

70. The king. The reading of the quarto of 1597. The other quar- 
tos and the folio have " a king," which W. prefers, .as it makes Boling- 
broke " disclaim not only the protection and alliance of his particular 
sovereign, but all immunity of royal blood." 

72. Except. St. says the word is used in " the old sense of to put a 
bar to, or stay action." Schmidt makes it = to object to. Cf T.N.\. 
3. 7 : "Let her except before excepted." We find "except against" in 
T. G. of V. i. 3. 83, and ii. 4. 155. 

']\. Ho7iotir''s pawn. The gage thrown down. The expression is used 
in the same sense in iv. i. 55 and 70. 

75. Else. Other, besides this. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. v. 5. 26 : "putting all 
affairs else in oblivion," etc. 

77. This is the reading of the folio. The ist quarto has *' What I 
have spoke, or thou canst worse devise ;" the 2d, " What I have spoke, 
or thou canst devise ;" the 3d and 4th, " What I have spoke, or what 
thou canst devise." 

80, 81. " The general sense of these somewhat obscure lines seems to 
be : ' I will meet you on any fair terms, or in any form of combat pre- 
scribed by the laws of chivalry ' " (C. P. ed.). 

82. light. Alight, dismount. Cf J. C. v. 3. 31 : "Now some light. 
O, he lights too ;" also Gen. xxiv. 64 ; 2 Kings, v. 21, etc. 

85. Inherit tis. Put us in possession ; the only instance of this use of 
the word in S. For inherit— possess, see below, ii. i. 83 ; also P. and j^. 
i. 2. 30 ; T. A. ii. 3. 3 ; Cymb: iii. 2. 63 ; etc. Gr. 290. 

88. Nobles. A gold coin, worth 6s. Sd. See below, on v. 5. 67. 

89. Lendings. Money in trust. It should have been used for paying 
the garrison of Calais. The word is used by S. nowhere else except in 
lear, iii. 4. 113 : " Off, off, you lendings !" that is, the clothes which the 
mad king throws away. 

90. The which. See Gr. 270. 

Lewd. Base, wicked. Cf i Hen. IV. iii. 2. 13 : "Such poor, such bare, 
such lewd, such mean attempts !" See also Milton, P. L. 192 : 

" So clomb this first grand thief into God's fold ; 
So since into his church lewd hirelings climb." 

The word (see Wb.) first meant laical as opposed to clerical ; thence. 



ACT I. SCENE I. 1^3 

unlearned, ignorant ; thence, mean, vile ; and at last it got its present 
restricted meaning. 

^i. Ltjuriotts. Insolent in wrong-doing. Cf. C>;;z<5. iv. 2. 86 : " Thou 
injurious thief!" 

95. Eighteen years. That is, since the insurrection of Wat Tyler, in 
1381. -. ^ 

96. Complotted. Plotted. So below, i. 3. 189 : "To plot, contrive, or 
complot any ill." The noun complot is similarly used ; as in 2 Hen. VI. 
iii. I. 147 : " Their complot is to have my life ;" T. of A. ii. 3. 265 : " the 
complot of this timeless tragedy;" Id. v. i. 65 : "complots of mischief," 
etc. 

97. Fetched. The folio reading. The ist quarto has " Fetch." 

100. The Duke of Gloster. Thomas of Woodstock, seventh son of 
Edward III., one of the leaders in the opposition to Richard's favourites. 
He was accused of treason by the Duke of Norfolk, then Earl of Notting- 
ham, and the Duke of Aumerle, and was put to death at Calais in 1397. 

loi. Suggest his soon-believing adversaries. Secretly incite his enemies 
ready to believe anything against him. Cf. Sonn. 144 : 

" Two loves I have of comfort and despair, 
Which like two spirits do suggest me still." 

The noun suggestion is used in the sense of prompting to evil, temptation, 
in Temp. ii. i. 288 ; Id. iv. i. 26, etc. 

104. Which blood. For the repetition of the antecedent, see Gr. 269. 
Cf. Gen. iv. 10. 

106. To me. As the son of his eldest surviving brother. 

107. Worth. Excellence, dignity. Cf. T. G. of V. ii. 4. 56 : 

" I know the gentleman 
To be of worth and worthy estimation;" 

Id. iii. I. 107 : "a youthful gentleman of worth." 

109. How high a pitch, etc. The expression is taken from the language 
of falconry. Cf. i Hen. VI. ii. 4. n : "Between two hawks, which flies 
the higher pitch ;" J. C. i. i. 78 : 

" These growing feathers pluck'd from Caesar's wing 
Will make him fly an ordinary pitch." 

• 
1 13. Slander of his blood. " This reproach to his ancestry " (Steevens). 
" This disgrace of his race " (Schmidt). Cf. Hen. V. iii. 6. 84 : " Such 
slanders of the age ;" Rich. Ill i. 3. 231, etc. 

116. Our kingdom' s heir. The folio reading; the ist quarto has "my 
kingdom's." 

119. Neighbour. An adjective, as in V. and A. 830 ; Z. Z. Z. v. 2. 94 ; 
A. Y. I. iv. 3. 79 ; R. and J. ii. 6. 27, and other passages. The word is 
also used as a verb ; as in V. and A. 259 ; W. T. i. 2. 449, etc. 

120. Partialize. To make partial ; found nowhere else in S. Cot- 
grave gives it as a translation of the Yx^wc^sx partialiser (C. P. ed.). 

126. Receipt. The money received (88). Cf. Cor. i. i. 116, where it is 
used of the food received by the stomach : " the mutinous parts That en- 
vied his receipt." See also R. of L. 703. 



154 NOTES. 

127. Dulv. The word is found only in the ist quarto. 

129. For that. See Gr. 151. 

130. I'ron remainder cf a dear account. On account of the balance of 
a heavy debt still due. Cf Much Ado, iv. i. 337 : *' Claudio shall render 
me a dear account." The Coll. MS. has "dear account," ^Yhich Sr. 
.adopts. 

131. He went to France in 1395 to arrange a marriage between Rich- 
ard and Isabel, the daughter of Charles VI.. then onlv eight years old. 

133. Holinshed sa\-s that Mowbray offended the king by taking too 
much time for the business. 

140. Exactly. Schmidt is doubtful whether- this means '* earnestly " 
or '* expressly." The C. P. ed. explains it, " in precise and distinct terms, 
without the omission of any detail." 

142. .-i/fcard. Charged against me. See on 4 above. 

144. ifcrrcant. An adjective here = cowardly or faithless. The prim- 
itive meaning (from Lat. nvrc-dc-rc) is apostate. 

145. /// fuys<rl/. In my own person. Gr. 162. 

149. OzYrxaating. Arrogant, presumptuous. Cf T. A', ii. 5. 34 : 
"Here's an overweening rogue !" 

iz^o. In /lastiT -u'hcrtof. To expedite which. Gr. 174 

152. jrrath-lind.'cd i^cfitU^mcn. So in folio; the ist quarto has "gen- 
tleman." Coll. defends the latter on the ground that the king was ad- 
dressing Norfolk, who had just concluded his angry speech. Boling- 
broke, he savs, was not so properly angry, and moreover had had time 
to cool. But line 156 ('* conclude, and be agreed '') shows that both are 
addressed. 

I =13. ChoUr. There is a play upon the two meaning's of the word, 
wrath and bile. 

154. Physician. ■ Four syllables, like the rhyming word incision. See 

^^•4-79. " ' ' ^'^ ... 

156. Conclude. Come to terms, agree. Cf. Cor. m. i. 145 : 

" where gentn-, title, wisdom 
Cannot conclude but by the yea and no 
Of general ignorance.' ' 

157. No time to bleed. The folio reading; the ist quarto has "no 
month." Bleeding was then considered advisable only at certain sea- 
sons, as spring and autumn. 

160. 0\\ shali for iciil see Gr. 315. 

162. Jf'hen, Harry, 'when .^ An expression of impatience. Cf y. C. 
ii. I. 5 : " When, Lucius, when?" See Tern/', p. 119. and Gr. 73^. 

164. T/:ere is no ^oof. As we say, *' It's of no use." Cf T. ofS. v. 2. 
176 : "Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot ;" i Ifcn. IV. iv. 6. 52 : 
" Then talk no more of flight, it is no boot." Cf also the use of the 
verb (==avail) in iii. 4 iS betow : "And what I want it boots not to com- 
plain ;" Milton, Lye. 64 : " Alas, what boots it," etc. 

i6S. The antecedent of ///<;/ is name. For the transposition cf iii. 2. 3S. 

170. Ba fifed. "Originally a punishment of inlamy, inflicted on rec- 
reaiu knights, one part of which was hanging them up by the heels" 
(Xares). "Cf Spenser, F. Q. vi. 7, 27 ; 



ACT I. SCENE I. 155 

"And after all, for greater infamie, 
He by tlie heeles him lumi; upon a tree, 
And balTiild so, that all which passed by 
The nicture of his pvmishniont might see, 
And oy the like ensaniple warned bee, 
How ever tl\ey through treason doe trespasse." 

Hence the word came to mean, to use contemptuously in any manner ; 
as in T. lV.\. i. 377: "Alas, poor fool, how have they bamecl thee!" 
The present meaning (to balk, frustrate) is not found in S. 

171. On the metaphor, see Gr. 529(5). 

Yl 2. The which. See Gr. 270. 0\\ hcart-hIood,'s,^t Qnx.ii. 

173. JVhiih. The antecedent is implied in the preceding his. Gr. 218 ; 
and for 7<:'// /(•// = who, Gr. 265. 

174. Malone says that "the Norfolk crest was a golden leopard ;" but 
it was and is a golden lion. The leopard seems to be mentioned here 
merely as an inferior animal. 

175. I/is spots. Pope changed "his" to "their;" but the former is 
the word in ycr. xiii. 23, which Norfolk has in mind. 

I So. On the metaphor, see Gr. 522. 

184. Dear ffiy H^'gv. See Gr. 13. 

i86. Thrcnv lioivn. The folio reading ; the ist quarto has "throw up." 

187. In the folio God is changed to " Heaven," in accordance with an 
Act of Parliament (3 James 1. cap. 21) entitled "An Act to restrain the 
abuses of Players," in which the name of God was forbidden to be used 
in stage-plays, etc. 

The quartos have " deep sin." 

189. Beggar-fear. The reading of the ist quarto and 1st and 2d folios. 
The 2d, 3d, and 4th quartos have " begger-face ;" the 3d and 4th folios, 
" beggar'd fear." 

Impeach my height. Detract from my dignity. Impeach (Fr. empkher) 
at first meant to hinder ; as in Spenser, F. Q. iii. 3, 53 : " That therefore 
nought our passage may empeach ;" Id. iii. ii, 11 : "and swelling throbs 
empeach His strugling toung." Then it got the meaning " to accuse " — 
perhaps, as has been suggested, because an accused person is held for 
trial, and his fr'ee action thus hindered. Here perhaps the two meanings 
are blended. 

1^0. Oiifdard. Defied. Some take it as = outdaring, audacious. Cf. 
(T/z/j/t'/v// — outspeaking", lean-look\i (ii. 4. 11 below) =lean- looking, etc. 
See Gr. 294. 

Ere my totigite, etc. On the figure, see Gr. 529(5). 

192. Parle. Parley, or the trumpet-call for one ; as in 3 Hen. VI. v. 
I. 16 : " Go, trumpet, to the walls, and sound a parle." 

193. Motive. Moving power, instrument ; that is, the tongue. Cf. 
A. W. iv. 4. 20 : 

"As it hath fated her to be my motive 
And helper to a husband ;" 

T. and C. iv. 5. 57 : " every joint and motive of her body." 

194. " It may be doubted whether his reters to the tongue (used for the 
modern its) or to Mowbray. Either yields a reasonable sense " (C. P. ed.). 



156 NOTES. 

199. St. Lamberfs day. September 17th. 

201. Difference. Quarrel, contention. Cf. M. of V. iv. i. 171 : 

"Are you acquainted with the difference 
That holds this present question in the court?" 

202. Atone. Reconcile, make atone. Cf; 0th. iv. i. 244 : " I would do 
much To atone them." It is also used intransitively (=agree) as in Cor. 
iv. 6. 72 : 

*' He and Aufidius can no more atone 
Than violentest contrariety." 

You shall see. The reading of all the early eds. except ist quarto, 
which has " we shall see." 

203. Design the victor''s chivalry. " Designate, by the result of the 
contest, the true knight." Design is used in its etymological sense, to 
point out (Lat. designare). Schmidt n\2^t.'s, justice the object oi design. 

204. Lord marshal. D. (following Capell) omits Lord, and refers to 
i. 3. 10 : " Marshal, demand," etc. See also i. 3. 26 and 99. Abbott (Gr. 
489) thinks that marshal may be a ** quasi - monosyllable " here. It 
would be better perhaps to consider it a trisyllable (Delius conjectures 
" Lord marishal "), as it seems to be in i Hen. VI. iv. 7. 70 and i Hen. IV. 
iv. 4. 2. The line would then be an Alexandrine. 

As Norfolk was himself Earl Marshal of England, a deputy was ap- 
pointed for this occasion. This, as Holinshed informs us, was Thomas 
Holland, Duke of Surrey. 

205. Be ready. Abbott (Gr. 311) remarks that it is doubtful whether 
be is the subjunctive or the infinitive with to omitted. He prefers (as we 
do) the former, supplying that after command. Cf. Rich. III. iv. 4. 539 : 

" Some one take order Buckingham be brought 
To Sahsbury." 

Scene II. — The Duke of Lancaster's palace, where the scene is laid, 
was situated on the banks of the Thames. It was known as " the Savoy," 
having anciently been the seat of Peter, Earl of Savoy, uncle to Eleanor, 
queen of Henry III. Upon his death it devolved to the queen, who 
gave it to her second son, Edmund, afterwards Earl of Lancaster. From 
that time it was used as the London palace of the earls and dukes of 
that house. John of Gaunt married Blanche, the daughter of Henry, the 
first duke of Lancaster. Blanche was co-heiress with her sister Matilda 
to the vast estates of this duchy ; and on the death of Matilda, without 
issue, John of Gaunt became possessed of all the property, in right of his 
wife, and was himself made Duke of Lancaster. 

The Savoy was burnt by the rebels, June 13, 1381, and rebuilt in the 
time of Henry VII. as the Hospital of St. John the Baptist. The only 
remnant of the edifice that has come down to our day is the chapel, which 
was restored by Queen Victoria in 1865, after a fire in 1864, which de- 
stroyed everything but the walls. The new wood ceiling is a copy of the 
old, its 138 compartments being filled with sacred devices and arms of the 
Dukes of Lancaster. 

The Duchess of Gloucester was Eleanor Bohun, daughter of Hum- 



ACT I. SCENE II. jHy 

phrey, Earl of Hereford. Her only sister was Mary, the wife of Henry, 
the Bolingbroke of this play, who was created Duke of Hereford in 
1397- 

I. The part I hadin Gloster's blood. My relationship to Gloster. 
Gloster's is the reading of the folio ; the quartos have " Woodstock's," 

which is adopted by St. and some other modern editors. 
^ 2. Exclaims. Exclamations ; as in Rich. III. i. 2. 52 : " deep exclaims." 
Cf. commends^covavatYidi.dXxoxx's,, iii. i. 38 and iii. 3. 126 below, and in M. 
of V. ii. I. 90 ; ^caw^^accusation, 2 Hen. VI. iii. i. 160 : impose— imxiod- 
tion, T. G. of V. iv. 3. 8, etc. See Gr. 451. 

5. Which made the fault, etc. " Which ordained the incapacity, that 
we subjects cannot inflict punishment on the king." That we cannot cor- 
rect is explanatory oi fault. 

6. Put we. A ist person imperative not unusual in S. Cf. Hen. V. iv. 
8. 118: "Come, go we in procession to the village;" and just below (127); 
" Do we all holy rites." Abbott calls it the " subjunctive used optatively 
or imperatively." See Gr. 364. 

7. They see. Pope reads "it sees," and Steevens "he sees." But S. 
elsewhere uses " Heaven" as a plural. Cf. Ham. iii. 4. 173 : "But Heav- 
en hath pleas'd it so . . . That I must be their scourge and minister ;" 
0th. iv. 2. 47 : " Had it pleas'd Heaven To try me with affliction, had 
they ram'd," etc. ; Per. i. 4. 16 : " if Heaven slumber while their creatures 
want. They may awake their helps to comfort them." In R. of L. 345, 
" th' eternal power " is similarly followed by a plural pronoun ; and the 
C. P. ed. points out that in Rich. III. iv. 4. 71, " hell " is used in the same 
way. 

In the present passage, however, " they" may possibly refer to " hands," 
as W. and Sr. explain it. 
Hours. A dissyllable here, as often. See Gr. 480. 

II. Edward's seven sons. The sons of Edward III. were— i. Edward 
the Black Prince (1330-1376) ; 2. William of Hatfield (1336-1344) ; -x. 
Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence (1338-1368) ; 4. John of Gaunt 
(1340-1399); 5. Edmund of Langley, Earl of Cambridge and Duke of 
York (1341-1402); 6. William of Windsor (died young) ; 7. Thomas of 
Woodstock, Earl of Buckingham and Duke of Gloucester (1355-1397). 

14, 15- "A natuJ^al death, which the destinies had brought to Edward, 
the two Williams, and Lionel, is contrasted with the violent death which 
befel Gloucester " (C. P. ed.). 

Destinies. A dissyllable, Wkt flourishing in 18. See Gr. 467. 

20. Eaded. The folio has "vaded," which is only another form of the 
same word. Cf. P. P. i^i : " Sweet rose, fair flower, untimely pluck'd, 
soon vaded;" Id. 170 : "A shining gloss that vadeth suddenly ;" Id. 174 : 
" Lost, vaded, broken, dead within an hour," etc. 

23. That metal. The quartos have "mettall " or "mettal ;" the folio 
"mettle." The early eds. make no distinction between metal and mettle, 
using either for the literal or the metaphorical meaning. 

Selfmoidd. Self-same mould. Gr. 20. 
, 28. Model. Copy, image. Cf. Hen. VIII iv. 2. 132 : " The model of 



158 



NOTES. 



our chaste loves, his young daughter ;" Per. ii. 2. 10 : " for princes are 
A model which heaven makes like itself," etc. 

30. In suffering. For the construction, see Gr. 164. 

32. Murther. The old spelling, used as late as the last century. Cf. 
Gray, The Bard, 88 : " With many a foul and midnight murther fed." 
But murder was also used in the time of S. The folio has *' murther " 
here, but " Murders " in 21 above. 

33. Safeguard. Cf. Hen. V. i. 2. 176 : "Since we have locks to safe- 
guard necessaries." Cf. Gr. 290. 

36. Venge. Not to be printed ""venge, as by most of the editors, and by 
Abbott in Gr. 460. It is the Fr. venger (Lat. vindicare), but has now 
given place to avenge and revenge. Cf. vengeance and vengeful. 

39. The which. See Gr. 270. 

40. I may never lift. See Gr. 307, 3 10. 

42. Complain myself. Reflexive, like the Fr. se complaindre. Gr. 296. 

44. The measure is complete if we divide will and fare (in farewell) 
into two syllables each, as Abbott does. See Gr. 483, 480. The Coll. 
MS. xe^&dXs farewell. 

46. Cousin. Hereford was both the nephew and brother-in-law of the 
Duchess ; but cousin was very loosely used in that day. Schmidt defines 
it as=="any kinsman or kinswoman," and gives examples of its use for 
nephew, niece, uncle, brother-in-law, and grandchild. It was sometimes 
a mere complimentary title given by one prince to another or to distin- 
guished noblemen ; as in M.for M. v. 1. 165, 246 ; Hen. V. v. 2. 4 ; Rich. 
III. iii. 4. 37 ; etc. 

47. Sit. For this imperative, or " optative use of the subjunctive," 
see Gr. 365. There are other instances of it in 50 and 57 just below. 

49. If misfortune, etc. If disaster fails to attend the first onset. 

53. Caitiff. The word has here, as Johnson suggests, something of its 
original meaning oi prisoner, from the Latin captivus. Tyrwhitt says : " I 
do not believe that caitiff in our language ever signified a prisoner ; I 
take it to be derived, not from captif but from chetif Fr. poor, miserable." 
But chetif, like captif, is from the Latin captivus ; being one of the many 
instances in French (as in English) in which a Latin word has been twice 
taken into the language. Cf. ?neuble and mobile from Lat. mobilis,porche 
and portique (so our porch and portico) from porticus, hdtel and hdpital 
(our hotel and hospital) from hospitale, frele and fragile (our frail and 
fragile) {rorafragflis, Aottt and auguste from augusius, etc. 

54. Sometimes. Used by S. interchangeably with sometime =^ioxTS\&x (or 
formerly), once, late. See Gr. 68«. Cf. C^/. i. 21, iii. 7 with ^//^. ii. 13. 

58. Grief boundeth, etc. She compares her reiterated complaints to 
the bounding of a ball. 

66. Flashy. The seat of Thomas of Woodstock, as Lord High Con- 
stable, near Dunmow, Essex. 

68. Lodgings. Apartments, chambers. Cf. T. of S. ind. i. 49 : " And 
burn sweet wood to make the lodging sweet;" Lear, i. 2. 184: "retire 
with me to my lodging ;" Per. ii. 3. no : " their several lodgings." 

UfifurnisK d walls. Cf. Percy, preface to Northumberland Household 
Book : " The usual manner of hanging the rooms in the old castles was 



ACT I. SCENE III. 



159 



only to cover the naked stone walls with tapestry or arras, hung upon 
tenter-hooks, from which they were easily taken down upon every re- 
moval." 

69. Offices. The offices of an old English mansion, as Malone remarks, 
were the rooms for keeping the various stores of provisions and for cul- 
inary purposes ; that is, the butler's pantry, cellars, and kitchen. They 
were all within the house, on the ground floor (there were no under- 
ground rooms until the time of Charles I.), and adjoining each other. 
When dinner had been set on the board, the proper officers attended in 
each of these offices. Sometimes, on occasions of great festivity, the 
offices were all thrown open, and full license given to all comers to eat 
and drink at their pleasure. Cf. 0th. ii. 2. 9, where this is done on ac- 
count of the destruction of the Turkish fleet, and in honour of the gen- 
eral's nuptials : "All offices are open, and there is full liberty of feasting 
from this present hour of five till the bell have told eleven." See also 
T. of A. ii. 2. 167. 

70. Hear. The ist quarto has " cheere." 

73. Desolate, desolate. The Coll. MS. has "Desolate, desperate." On 
will I hence see Gr. 475. 

The Duchess died the next year (1399), from grief at the death of her 
son Humphrey. 

Scene III. — Holinshed's account of the events in this scene is as fol- 
lows : 

"At the time appointed, the King came to Coventry, where the two 
dukes were ready, according to the order prescribed therein, coming 
thither in great array, accompanied with the lords and gentlemen of their 
lineages. The King had caused a sumptuous scaffold or theatre and 
royal lists there to be erected and prepared. . . . The Duke of Hereford 
armed him in his tent, that was set up near to the lists ; and the Duke 
of Norfolk put on his armour betwixt the gate and the barrier of the 
town, in a beautiful house, having a fair perclois of wood towards the 
gate, that none might see what was done within the house. 

" The Duke of Aumerle that day being High Constable of England, and 
the Duke of Surrey Marshal, placed themselves betwixt them, well armed 
and appointed ; and when they saw their time, they first entered into the 
lists, with a great company of men apparelled in silk sendal, embroidered 
Vifith silver both richly and curiously, every man having a tipped staff to 
keep the field in order. 

"About the hour of prime, came to the barriers of the lists the Duke 
of Hereford, mounted on a white courser barded with green and blue 
velvet, embroidered sumptuously with swans and antelopes of goldsmith's 
work, armed at all points. The Constable and Marshal came to the 
barriers, demanding of him what he was ; he answered, ' I am Henry of 
Lancaster, Duke of Hereford, which am come hither to do my endeavour 
against Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, as a traitor untrue to God, 
the King, his realm, and me.' Then incontinently he sware upon the 
holy Evangelists that his quarrel was true and just, and upon that point 
he required to enter the lists. 



i6o NOTES. 

" Then he put up his sword, which before he held naked in his hand, 
and putting down his vizor, made a cross on his horse, and with spear in 
hand entered into the lists, and descended from his horse, and set him 
down in a chair of green velvet at the one end of the lists, and there 
reposed himself, abiding the coming of his adversary. Soon after him 
entered into the field with great triumph King Richard, accompanied 
with all the peers of the realm. The King had there above ten thousand 
men in armour, lest some fray or tumult might arise among his nobles 
by quarrelling or partaking. When the King was set in his seat, which 
was richly hanged and adorned, a king-at-arms made open proclamation, 
prohibiting all men, in the name of the King, and of the High Constable 
and Marshal, to enterprise or attempt to approach or touch any part of 
the lists on pain of death, except such as were appointed to order or 
marshal the field. The proclamation ended, another herald cried : 
* Behold here Henry of Lancaster, Duke of Hereford, appellant, which is 
entered into the lists royal to do his endeavour against Thomas Mow- 
bray, Duke of Norfolk, defendant, upon pain to be found false and rec- 
reant.' 

" The Duke of Norfolk hovered on horseback at the entry of the lists, 
his horse being barded with crimson velvet, embroidered richly with 
lions of silver and mulberry trees ; and when he had made his oath be- 
fore the Constable and Marshal that his quarrel was just and true, he 
entered the field manfully, saying aloud, God aid him that hath the right ; 
and then he departed from his horse, and sat him down in his chair, 
which was crimson velvet, curtained about with white and red damask. 
The Lord Marshal viewed their spears, to see that they were of equal 
length, and delivered the one spear himself to the Duke of Hereford, and 
sent the other unto the Duke of Norfolk by a knight. Then the herald 
proclaimed that the traverses and chairs of the champions should be re- 
moved, commanding them, on the King's behalf, to mount on horseback, 
and address themselves to the battle and combat. The Duke of Here- 
ford was quickly horsed, and cast his spear into the rest, and when the 
trumpet sounded, set forward courageously towards his enemy six or 
seven paces. The Duke of Norfolk was not fully set forward when the 
King cast down his warder, and the heralds cried, * Ho, ho !' Then the 
King caused their spears to be taken from them, and commanded them 
to repair again to their chairs, where they remained two long hours, 
while the King and his council deliberately consulted what order was 
best to be had in so weighty a cause. Finally, after they had devised 
and fully determined what should be done therein, the heralds cried si- 
lence ; and Sir John Bushy, the King's secretary, read the sentence and 
determination of the King and his council, in a long roll, the effect 
whereof was that Henry, Duke of Hereford, should, within fifteen days, 
depart out of the realm, and not to return before the term of ten years 
were expired, except by the King he should be repealed again, and this 
upon pain of death; and that Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, be- 
cause he had sown sedition in the realm by his words, should likewise 
avoid the realm, and never to return again into England, nor approach 
the borders or confines thereof, upon pain of death ; and that the King 



ACT I. SCENE III, l6l 

would stay the profits of his lands till he had levied thereof such sums 
of money as the Duke had taken up of the King's treasurer for the ' 
wages of the garrison of Calais, which were still unpaid. When these 
judgments were once read, the King called before him both the parties, 
and made them to swear that the one should never come in place where 
the other was, willingly, nor keep any company together in any foreign 
region ; which oath they both received humbly, and so went their ways. 
The Duke of Norfolk departed sorrowfully out of the realm into Almaine, 
and at the last came to Venice, where he, for thought and melancholy, 
deceased. . . . The Duke of Hereford took his leave of the King at Elt- 
ham, which there released four years of his banishment. So he took his 
journey over into Calais, and from thence into France, where he re- 
mained." 

Enter the Lord Marshal. See on i. i. 204. As W. remarks, "this 
designation by his office in one place of a character who is designated by 
his name in another is not uncommon in our old dramatic literature." 

1. Aumerle. He ofiiciated as Lord High Constable on this occasion. 

2. At all points. Completely. Cf. Spenser, /; ^. i. i, 16 : "Armed to 
point ;" Id. i. 2, 12 : " all armde to point." 

3. Sprightfitlly attd bold. Sprightfully and boldly. Cf. Rich. III. iii. 
4. 50 : " His grace looks cheerfully and smooth this morning." See Gr. 

397- 

9. Orderly. Cf. " knightly " in 12 below ; also " cheerly," 66 below, 
and Temp. i. i. 6 ; " angerly," Macb. iii. 5. i ; etc. See Gr. 447. 

15. As so. On this anomalous combination see Gr. no. 

17. Who. On w/z^=and I, etc., see Gr. 263. 

18. Defend. Forbid, like the Fr. difendre. Cf. 0th. i. 3. 267: "And 
heaven defend your good souls that you think ;" Much Ado, ii. i. 98 : 
"God defend the lute should be like the case !" Cf. its use=ward off, 
as in Spenser, F. Q. ii. 12, 63 : 

"And all the margent round about was sett 
With shady Laurell trees, thence to defend 
The sunny beames." 

20. His succeeding issue. The folio reading ; the quartos have " my," 
which Johnson adopted, as " Mowbray's issue was in danger of an at- 
tainder, and therefore he might come, among other reasons, for their 
sake." The Camb. ed. and the C. P. ed. accept this explanation ; but, as 
W. remarks, the other reading " more appropriately refers Norfolk's loy- 
alty to the royal family, not to his own." D,, St., and Sr. also have " his." 

23. Defending of myself . See Gr. 178. 

25. In the folio the stage direction that follows is " Tucket- Enter 
Hereford and Harold.^'' A tucket (Ital. toccata) was a flourish of trumpets 
used as a signal for a march. Cf. Hen. V. iv. 2. 35 : 

" Then let the trumpets sound 
~- The tucket-sonance and the note to mount." 

26. On the measure see Gr. 505. 



i62 NOTES. 

28. Plated. Cf. A. and C. 1.1.4: " like plated Mars ;" Lear, iv. 6. 169 : 

" Plate sin with gold, 
And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks." 

30. Depose him. Take his deposition, or statement upon oath ; the 
only instance of this meaning in S. 

34. So defend thee heaven. See Gr. 133. 

42. No person be so bold. See Gr. 364, 365. 

43. Darmg hardy. Commonly printed "daring-hardy," but the hy- 
phen is not in the old eds. The quartos have " daring, hardy " or " dar- 
ing, hardie ;" the folio " daring hardie." Abbott refers it to Gr. 2, but 
it may better be put under i. The difference is often one of punctuation 
rather than of meaning. In most of the compound adjectives given in 
Gr. 2, the first part is virtually an adverb modifying the second; as 
"crafty-sick," "childish-foolish," "senseless-obstinate," etc. 

45. These fair designs. See on i. i. 80, 81. 
55. Right. The reading of the quartos; the folio has "just." 
58. Thee dead. The ist and 2d quartos have " the dead." 
57. Profane a tear. The meaning is, " If I am slain by Mowbray, I 
am an unworthy knight for whom it would be profanation to shed a tear." 

66. Cheerly. See on 9 above. 

67. Regreet. Salute ; as below in 186. In 142 it may mean salute 
again. Cf. the use of the noun (=greetings) in M. of V. ii. 9. 89 : "sen- 
sible regreets ;" and K. John, iii. i. 241 : " this kind re'greet." 

The reference is to the English custom of making sweets the last 
course of a banquet. The C. P. ed. quotes Bacon : " Let not this Par- 
liament end, like a Dutch feast, in salt meats ; but, like an English feast, 
in sweet meats." 

69. Earthly. The folio has " earthy." 

70. Spirit. As often, a monosyllable. See Gr. 463. On regenerate 
cf. Gr. 342. 

73. Proof. Impenetrability, resisting power ; a technical term with 
reference to armour. Cf. Ham. ii. 2. 512 : " Mars's armour forg'd for 
proof eterne ;" T. of A. iv. 3. 123 : 

" Put armour on thine ears and on thine eyes, 
Whose proof nor yells of mothers, maids, nor babes, 
Nor sight of priests in holy vestments bleeding. 
Shall pierce a jot." 

75. Waxen. " Soft and penetrable, as if rhade of wax" (D.). 

76. Furbish new. Polish or burnish anew. The folio has " furnish." 
Cf. Macb. i. 2. 32 : " With furbish'd arms." 

77. Haviour. Not " 'haviour," as often printed. See Wb. s, v. It 
means bearing or behaviour. Lusty here, as Schmidt suggests, " comes 
near the sense oi gallant?'' So also in v. 3. 19 below : " He would un- 
horse the lustiest challenger." There, however, it might have its ordi- 
nary meaning of stout, vigourous. 

80. Redoubled. A quadrisyllable here. See Gr. 476. The same ex- 
pression occurs in Macb. i. 2. 38 : " Doubly redoubled strokes upon the 
foe." 



ACT I. SCENE III. 



163 



81. Amazing. Bewildering; as in v. 2. 85 : " thou art amaz'd." 

82. Adverse. The quarto reading; the folio has "amaz'd," which W. 
defends as a repetition quite in S.'s manner, and as preferable to the tau- 
tology of " adverse enemy." D., St., Sr., K., and Coll. have " adverse." 
Elsewhere S. accents adverse on the first syllable. See Gr. 490. 

84. In7iocence. The reading of all the early eds. Capell changed it 
to innocency, which was very likely S.'s word. He uses it sometimes ; as 
m 2 Hen. IV. v. 2. 39 : "If truth and upright innocency fail me." In 
Rich. III. ni. 5. 20 ("God and our innocency defend and guard us !") it 
may be a misprint for innocence, which is found in the ist quarto. 

St. George was the patron saint of England. Cf Rich. III. v. 3 270 • 
" God and Saint George !" Heji. V. iii. i. 34 : " Cry, God for Harry! 
England, and Saint George !" 

To thrive. That is, help me to thrive, or succeed. Cf. Gr. 382. 

91. More. Superfluous after "freer." 

95. As to jest. As if going to take part in a play. See Gr. 107. The 
nounj^^j^ was also used in the sense of a play, or masque. Nares quotes 
Spanish Tragedy: 

"He promis'd us, in honour of our guest. 
To grace our banquet with some pompous jest;" 

where the word refers to a masque that follows. Schmidt makes it a noun 
in the present passage, = " the contrary to earnest." 

97. Secm-ely. Confidently or surely (which is etymologically the same 
word). In ii. i. 266 it means too confidently, carelessly. 

112. Approve. Prove. Cf T A. ii. i. 35 : "And that my sword upon 
thee shall approve ;" Sonn. 70. 5 : 

" So thou be good, slander doth but approve 
Thy worth the greater." 

116. Attending. Awaiting. Cf M. of V. iv. i. 145 : " He attendeth 
here hard by. To know your answer ;" M. W. i. i. 279 : " The dinner 
attends you, sir." 

118. Stay. A dissyllable here. Gr. 482. Pope altered it to "But 
stay ;" D. adopts Walker's conjecture, " Stay, stay." 

Warder. The truncheon, or staft' of command. Steevens quotes Dan- 
iel's Civil Wars, i. 63 : 

" When lo! the King, chang'd suddenly his mind. 
Casts down his warder, and so stays them there." 

Cf. the reference to this same incident in 2 Hen. IV. iv. i. 125 : 

" O, when the King did throw his warder down 
His own life hung upon the staff he threw." 

121. Withdraw with us. Spoken to the members of the King's 
council. 

122. While we return these dtikes. Until we report to these dukes. 
Cf. iv. I. 269 below : "Read o'er this paper while the glass doth come." 
So whiles in 7^ iV; iv. 3. 29 : 

" He shall conceal it 
Whiles you are wilHng it shall come to note." 



i64 NOTES. 

123. On the measure, see Gr. 512. 
125. For that. Because. See Gr. 151. 

127. Aspect. Accented on last syllable, as in 209 below. See Gr. 40. 

128. Civil. The ist quarto has "cruell." 

129-133. These five lines are omitted in the folio. It was no doubt an 
accident, as the context requires them. 

Set on yoit. " Set you on " (Pope's reading), incited you. 

134. Unttin'd. Discordant, inharmonious. QL R. of L.121^: ** With 
untun'd tongue she hoarsely calls her maid." 

136. Wrathful iron. The ist quarto has "harsh resounding." 

140. Pain of life. The quarto reading; in the folio "pain of death," 
which W. prefers. "Pain of life" is the king's expression in 153, just 
below. 

142. Regreet. See on 67 above. 

143. Stranger. Foreign. See Gr. 22. 

150. The fly-slow hours. The quartos have "slie slow;" the ist, 3d, 
and 4th folios, "slye slow;" the 2d folio "flye slow," whence Pope read 
" fly-slow," which is adopted by D., W., Sr., and Coll. K., H., the Camb. 
ed., and some others have "sly, slow." It is curious that Pope himself, 
in his Essay on Man (iv. 226), has 

"All sly slow things, with circumspective eyes." 

W. says : ^' Sly -slow is not an objectionable compound in itself; but here 
it is without meaning." On the other hand, the C. P. ed. remarks : " Sly 
is an epithet suitable enough to the hours that pass with stealthy and 
noiseless step, and to the exile they would be slow also." 

Determinate. Bring to an end ; a legal term. Cf. Sonn. ^'j. 4 : " My 
bonds in thee are all determinate." 

151. Dear. "Sad, grieving the heart" (Schmidt). The word often 
means " heartfelt," and is used of both agreeable and disagreeable affec- 
tions. See Temp. p. 124, C. p. 292, and D. {Glossary). 

Exik. Accent on last syllable. See Gr. 490. 

156. A dearer merit. A more agreeable reward. There is probably 
a reference to the " dear exile " of the King. S. here uses merit for 
nieed^ as elsewhere meed for m.eHt. See T. of A. i. i. 288 : " no meed, 
but he repays Sevenfold above itself;" Ham. v. 2. 149 : " in his meed 
he's unfellowed." 

159. These forty years. Norfolk was not much more than thirty years 
old at this time. His elder brother John was born in 1365. 
• 162. Viol. "A six-stringed guitar." 

163. Cunning. Cunningly or skilfully constructed. Cf. 0th. v. 2. 11 : 
"Thou cunning'st pattern of excelling nature." 

164. His. See Gr. 218. 

166. EngaoVd. Imprisoned. See Gr. 440. 

174^ Compassionate. Perhaps = passionate, excited; or, as Schmidt 
explains it, " pitiful, moving pity." There is no other example of this 
use of the word. Sr. reads " be so passionate ;" and Theo. suggested 
" become passionate," which W. adopts. 

175. Plaining. Complaining. Plaint is still in use, at least in poetry. 



ACT I. SCENE III. 165 

Cf. Lear, iii. i. 39 : " The king hath cause to plain." In Per. iii. prol. 
14 ('* What's dumb in show I'll plain with speech ") it means explain, or 
make plain. 

1 76. Turn me. Reflexive. See Gr. 296, 223. 

1 79. On our royal sword. The guard of the sword, being at right an- 
gles to the blade, formed a cross, so that swearing upon the sword was 
swearing by the cross. Cf. Ham. i. 5. 160 : " Swear by my sword." See 
also W. T, iii. 2. 125 ; Hen. V. ii. i. 105 ; etc. 

181. The king releases them from their allegiance during their exile. 
It was a disputed question in law *' whether a banished man was tied in 
his allegiance to the state which exiled him." 

183. Shall. For the use of the word, see Gr. 315. 

185. Nor ever. So in folio; the quartos have "Nor never," and also 
in 186 and 188. The double negative was comfhon enough in that day. 
See Gr. 406. 

186. Regreet. See on 67 above. 

188. Advised. Deliberate. Cf. M. of V. \. i. 142: "more advised 
watch ;" Id. ii. i. 42: "be advis'd." So «^wj-^^/j/= deliberately in Id. v. 
I. 253 : " Will never more break faith advisedly." 

189. Plot^ contrive^ or complot. Legal tautology. On complot see above, 
i. I. 96. 

192. And I, etc. Coll. MS. has here the stage direction " [Kissing the 
King''s sword.'''' 

193. So far, etc. The quartos and the ist folio have "so fare." The 
other folios have "farre" or "far." Coll. retains ^r^, and says, "The 
clear meaning is (if commentators would but allow themselves to see it), 
* Norfolk, so fare, as I wish to mine enemy,' " But " the commentators " 
refuse to see it, and prefer y^n W. explains it, "so far I speak as to my 
enemy ;" D., " so far as a man may speak to his enemy ;" St., " so far as 
I am now permitted to address my enemy ;" etc. 

196. Sepulchre. Accent on second syllable here, but elsewhere on the 
first, as below in ii. i. 55. As a verb S. accents it on second syllable. Cf. 
R. of L. 805 : " May likewise be sepulchred in thy shade ;" T.G.ofV. 
iv. 2. 118 : " Or, at the least, in hers sepulchre thine." See Gr. 490. 

201. Traitor. On the omission of the article see Gr. 84. 

203. Heaven. A dissyllable here, but a monosyllable in the next line. 

205. All too soon. On this use of all see Gr. 28. 

Rice. That is, rue his knowledge. 

207. Johnson says : " Perhaps Milton had this in his mind when he 
wrote these lines : 

" The world was all before them, where to choose 
Their place of rest, and Providence their guide." 

20S. For the measure, see Gr. 465 or 466. 

209. Aspect. Accent on last syllable, as in 127 above. Cf. exile in 217 
below (and exiled in 283), and see Gr. 490. 

211. Spent. On the construction, see Gr. 377. 

218. Vantage. Advantage. Still in use, especially in the compound 
" vantage-ground." 



1 66 NOTES. 

222. Extinct "Used by S. only here and in Ha7n. i. 3. 118; in both 
places in its literal sense. Extinguished does not occur in his plays at 
all " (C. P. ed.). 

227. Stidden, The folio reading ; the quartos have " sullen," which 
Coll. and St. adopt. 

228. " It is matter of very melancholy consideration, that all human 
advantages confer more power of doing evil than good" (Johnson). 

231. Current. Like a coin made current by royal authority. Cf. ster- 
ling ill iv. I. 264 below. 

232. Dead. For the construction, see Gr. 380. 

233. U^on good advice. After due deliberation. On tipon see Gr. 190. 
For advice cf. advised in 188 above. 

_ 234. A party-verdict. Implying that Gaunt, as a member of the coun- 
cil, had assented to his son's banishment ; but Holinshed does not say so. 

239-242. These lines are not in the folio. 

A partial slander. " The reproach of partiality " (St.). 

244. / was too strict, etc. " I was too severe to myself in sacrificing 
my son " (Gr. 356). 

247. Bid him so. For so see Gr. 65. 

249. Presence. Personal interview. 

250. Paper. That is, letters. W. has " do you remain," which is evi- 
dently a misprint. 

251. Cf. M. 0/ V. ii. 2. iij : "I will run as far as God has any ground." 

259. yoj/ absent. See Gr. 380. 

260. What is six winters ? On the number of the verb, see Gr. 333. 
262. A travel. A journey. Cf. T. JV. ii. 5. 59 : " after a demure travel 

of regard ;" but the word in this sense is not often found with the article. 
We may remark that down to the end of the 17th century travel and 
travail were used interchangeably without regard to the meaning. 

264. Which finds. Since it finds. Cf. Gr. 263. 

266. A foil. The reading of the 2d quarto. The ist has "as foyle;" 
the other early eds. " a soyle " or "a soyl." 

Foil in this sense is the Yx.feuille {IjaX. folium), leaf, and refers to the 
use of gold or silver leaf as a background for transparent gems. Cf. i 
Hen. /F". i. 2, 239 : 

"And like bright metal on a sullen ground, 
My reformation, glittering o'er my fault, 
Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes 
Than that which hath no foil to set it off." 

268-293. These twenty-six lines are omitted in the folio. 
269. Remember me. Remind me. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 243 : " Let me re- 
member thee what thou hast promised." See Gr. 291. 
272. Foreign passages. Wanderings in foreign lands. 

274. But that I zvas. Only that I had become, jfourneyman was 
originally a workman by the day {YY.Journee). 

275. The eye of heaven. Cf. R. of L. 356 : " the eye of heaven is out ;" 
Sonn. 18. 5 : " the eye of heaven shines ;" Spenser, F. Q. i. 3, 4 : 

" Her angel face 
As the great eye of heaven shyned bright." 



ACT I. SCENE III. 167 

Malone suggests that in this passage S. had in mind that part of Lyly's 
Eiiphties in which Euphues exhorts Botonio to bear his exile patiently. 
" Nature," he says, "hath given to man a country no more than she hath 
a house, or lands, or livings. Socrates would neither call himself an 
Athenian, neither a Grecian, but a citizen of the world. Plato would 
never accompt him banished that had the sunne, fire, ayre, water, and 
earth that he had before ; where he felt the winter's blast and the sum- 
mer's blaze ; where the same sunne and the same moone shined ; where- 
by he noted that every place was a country to a wise man, and all parts 
a palace to a quiet mind. When it was cast in Diogenes' teeth that the 
Sinoponetes had banished him Pontus, yea, said he, I them of Diogenes." 

279. For the measure, see Gr. 505. 

282. Purchase. Gain, win. Cf. Temp. iv. i. 14 : 

" Then, as my gift and thine own acquisition 
Worthily purchas'd, take my daughter." 

283. ExWd. Often accented as here (see Gr. 470), but sometimes 
on the first syllable, as in Macb. v. 8. 66 : " As calling home our exil'd 
friends abroad." 

286. What. See Gr. 252. 

289. The presence strexv'd. The royal presence-chamber strewn with 
rushes, according to the ancient usage. Cf. Hen. VIII. iii. 1. 17 : " The 
two great cardinals Wait in the presence;" and T of S. iv. i. 48 : " Is 
supper ready, the house trimmed, rushes strewed, cobwebs swept ?" See 
also -ff. ^Z. 316 : 

"And being lighted, by the light he spies 
Lucretia's glove, wherein her needle sticks ; 
He takes it from the rushes where it lies." 

Sweet-smelling herbs were sometimes mixed with these rushes, which 
ordinarily were allowed to remain several days, or even weeks, and often 
became very dirty and unsavoury. It was thought to be a piece of unnec- 
essary luxury, on the part of Wolsey, when he wisely caused the rushes 
of Hampton Court to be changed every day. We have frequent allu- 
sions to them in the writings of the period. Froissart says, " The Count 
de St. Foix went to his chamber, which he found ready strewed with 
rushes and green leaves, and the walls hung with boughs newly cut for 
perfume." Sir Thomas More (1483) describes Elizabeth, the widowed 
Queen of Edward IV., when in the sanctuary at Westminster, as " sitting 
alone amongst the rushes in her grief and distress." Bradshaw, in the 
Lyfe of Saynt Werbiirge (1500), writes : 

' ' All herbes and flowres fragrant, fayre, and sweete, 
Were strewed in halls, and layd under theyr feet." 

In a description of Draper's Hall {1495), mats are said to be in the 
" Checker chamber," and rushes in the hall ; and, in the records of the 
Merchant Taylors' Hall, we find that " Guy Robinson, rush strewer, was 
suspended for using indecent language whilst strewing rushes." The 
last monarch whose presence-chamber was thus carpeted was Queen 
Elizabeth. 



l68 NOTES. 

291. Measure. "A formal court dance" (Steevens). Cf. Much Ado, 
ii. I. 80 : "mannerly modest, as a measure, full of state and ancientry." 

292. Gnarling. Snarling, growling. Cf. 2 Hen. VI. iii. i. 192 : " And 
wolves are gnarling who shall gnaw thee first." Gnarled is used in the 
modern sense in M. for M. ii. 2. 116: "the unwedgeable and gnarled 
oak." 

293. Sets it light. Sets light by it, esteems it lightly. 
295. Fire. A dissyllable here, as often. See Gr. 480. 

Malone quotes here from Lyly's Euphues (see on 275 above) the fol- 
lowing : " I speak this to this end, that though thy exile seem grievous 
to thee, yet guiding thy selfe with rules of philosophic it shall be more 
tolerable : he that is colde doth not cover himselfe with care but with 
clothes ; he that is washed in the rayne 'drieth himself by the fire, not by 
his fancie ; and thou which art banished," etc. 

299. Fantastic. Imaginary. Cf. Macb. i. 3. 139 : " whose murder yet 
is but fantastical." 

300. Apprehetision. Imagination, conception. Cf. .A^;;;. iv. i. 11 : "in 
this brainish apprehension;" 0th. iii. 3. 139: "uncleanly apprehensions." 

302, Cf. Rich. III. i. 3. 291 : " His venom tooth will rankle to the 
death ;" the only other instance in which S. uses the word rankle. . 

304. Bring. Accompany. Cf the 2d line of next scene, and J. C. i. 
3. I : " Brought you Caesar home ?" 

309. Dr. Johnson remarks that the act ought to end here. "As the 
play is now divided," he says, "more time passes between the last two 
scenes of the first act than between the first act and the second." 

Scene IV. — i. We did observe. This is spoken to Bagot and Green, 
and is explained by line 24. 

6. None for me. None on my part. Gr. 149. Except =except that. 

7. Blew. The folio has "grew," and "face" for faces; and in the 
next line " sleepie " for sleeping. 

11. Farewell. For the " interjectional line," see Gr. 512. 

12. And for. And because. Gr. 151. Cf. 43 below. 

13. That taught. That fact (of disdaining to profane the woxdfarewell) 
taught me craft to pretend to be so oppressed by sorrow that I could not 
utter that word. 

16. Marry. Probably a corruption of Mary, and originally a mode of 
swearing by the Virgin. The word is often a monosyllable in the meas- 
ure. See Gr. 463. 

19. None of me. None from me. Gr. 166. 

20. Doubt. Matter of doubt, doubtful. Cf. iii. 4. 69. We still use the 
word in a similar way in 7zo rtr<72/^/= undoubtedly. 

22. Come. Will come. See Gr. 368. His friejids refers to the King 
and his other relatives, not, as some editors make it, to the " common 
people." 

23. Bagot here, and Green. Omitted in the quartos, which have "Our 
selfe and Bushie." The folio reads, " friends, Our selfe and Bushy : 
heere Bagot and Greene." The 5th quarto has "friends, Our selfe, and 
Bushy, Bagot here and Greene." 



ACT I. SCENE IV. jg 

28. Smiles. The folio misprints "soules." 

29. Underbearing. Enduring, supporting (to which, as to sufferinz it 
IS etymologically analogous) ; as in A: John, iii. i. 65 : M^^rtng, it 

"And leave those woes alone which I alone 
Am bound to underbear." 

r}%f'-'^'^Z'' See Gr. 107. Cf. line 35 below. ^/f^^/^= affections 

\l:i: ^^i^ "the young affects;" L. L. L. i. i. 152: "For everv 

man with his affects is born." ^ ^ 

31. Bo?inet. Hat. Cf. V. and A. 339: "And with his bonnet hidp<. 
ms angry brow;", and Id 351 : " WitlfSne fair hand she he^Jh up h 

" .Lc if T'"^-'^ "u^^ ^' ^ verb (-take ^^the bonnet) in Cor. ii. 2^0 • 
^^t^hose who, having been supple and courteous to the people, bonneted," 

32. The tribute of his supple knee. " To illustrate this phrase, it should 
be remembered that cotcrtesying (the act of reverence Sow confined o 
women) was anciently practised by men " (Steevens) 

35. Reversion. In the legal sense of " right of future possession." 
alterk Romat"''''^ '"^ Malone quotes Virgil, ^n. xii. 168 : - Spes 

Z^. Expedient manage. Expeditious preparation. Qi. K. 7ohn ii i 
60: His marches are expedient to this town;" Id ii. i. 22^ • "with 
much expedient march." For manage see M. of V. iii. 4. 2< • "the hus- 
bandry and manage of my house ;" Temp. i. 2. 70 : " the manage of my 

42. Ourself See Gr. 20. Cf i. i. 16 above, and see note. For the 
omission oigo after will, see Gr. 405. • -i ux uic 

43. And for. See on 12 above. 

\^. Blank charters. Blank drafts or "promissory notes," which (as 
explained in the following lines) rich men were compelled to sign and 
TleL's^d ^ ° ^^'^ afterwards filled out with what sunis they 

54. Very sick. The folio reading ; the quartos have "grievous sick." 

58. ^y House. The palace of the Bishop of Ely, in Holborn, Lon- 
don. The Savoy had been burned before this. See introduction to 
notes on the second scene of this act. Cf Rich. III. iii 4 33 

The only existing reninant of Ely House is the Chapel^ still known as 
Ely Chapel. It is now (1876) undergoing restoration. The oak timbers 
of the roof are as sound as when first put up, five centuries ago ; and the 
same may be said of the floor and the wooden columns by which it is 
supported in the crypt below. This crypt, long filled up with rubbish 
is a spacious apartment, partly lighted by side windows, and is also to be 
restored. 

6t^. Go visit. See Gr. 349. 



170 



NOTES. 




Scene I. — Holinshed's account of the events in this scene is as fol- 
lows : 

" In the mean time the Duke of Lancaster departed out of this life at 
the Bishop of Ely's place in Holborn, and lieth buried in the cathedral 
church of Saint Paul in London, on the north side of the high altar, by 
the Lady Blanche his first wife. The death of this duke gave occasion 
of increasing more hatred in the people of this realm towards the King ; 
for he seized into his hands all the goods that belonged to him, and also 
received all the rents and revenues of his lands, which ought to have de- 
scended unto the Duke of Hereford by lawful inheritance, in revoking 
his letters patent which he had granted to him before, by virtue whereof 
he might make his attorneys-general to sue livery for him of any manner 
of inheritances or possessions that might from thenceforth fall unto him, 
and that his homage might be respited, with making reasonable fine : 
whereby it was evident that the King meant his utter undoing. 

" This hard dealing was much misliked of all the nobility, and cried 
out against of the meaner sort. But, namely, the Duke of York was 
therefore sore amoved, who before this time had borne things with so 
patient a mind as he could, though the same touched him very near, as 
the death of his brother the Duke of Gloucester, the banishment of his 
nephew the said Duke of Hereford, and other more injuries in great 
number, which, for the slippery youth of the King, he passed over for the 
time, and did forget as well as he might." 

2. Unstaid. Thoughtless. Elsewhere the accent is on the second 
syllable ; as in T. G. of V. ii. 7. 60 : " For undertaking so unstaid a jour- 
ney." 



ACT II. SCENE L 



171 



3. IVor strive not. Cf. i. 3. 185 above, and see Gr. 305. 

9. Listen' d. Cf. J. C. iv. I. 41 : " Listen great things." Gr. 199. 

10. Whom. For the change of the relative from that in the preceding 
line, see Gr. 260. 

Close. Also written ^/^;^^. D. and others explain it here as=flatter. 
Schmidt defines it " to make mere words." Cf. Wb. It is also used 
as a noun, as in Z. L. L. iv. 3. 370 : "Now to plain-dealing j lay these 
glozes by." 

12. Some eds. point the passage thus : 

"The setting sun, and music at the close, 
As the last taste of sweets is sweetest, last 
Writ in remembrance more than things long past." 

D., K. {2d td.), W., and the Camb. ed. have the reading in the text. 

14. Writ. For the form, see Gr. 343. 

16. Undeaf. See Gr. 290. S. uses the word nowhere else. He has 
deaf as a verb in K. John, ii. i. 147 : " What cracker is this same that 
deafs our ears ?" 

18. On the use oi as, see Gr. 113. The reading is that of the 3d and 
4th quartos. The folio has the same, according to both Coll. and the 
Camb. ed., but they appear to mistake "sound" (with the old style s) 
for "found." The ist quarto has "of whose taste the wise are found;" 
the 2d quarto, "of whose state the wise are found." Pope reads, "of 
his state ; there are beside." Coll. proposed "As praises, of whose taste 
the wise are fond," which the Camb. ed. adopts. 

19. Venom. See Gr. 22. 

21. In Shakespeare's time, and perhaps as early as the reign of Rich- 
ard II., Italian fashions were much imitated in England. The Italian 
courts, especially that of Milan (whence, by the way, our milliner), were 
then the most luxurious in Europe. On the English habit of aping 
foreign fashions, cf. M. of V. i. 2. 80. See also A. Y. L. iv. i. 33 : " Look 
you lisp and wear strange suits, disable all the benefits of your own coun- 
try," etc. 

22. Still. Ever, always ; as often in S. The word is even used as an 
adjective { = constant), as in T. A. iii. 2. 45 : "And by still practice learn 
to know thy meaning." See also Rich. III. iv. 4. 229. 

23. The measure is complete if imitation be reckoned as five syllables, 
Cf. separation in quotation in note on 26 below, and Gr. 479. Pope in- 
serted " awkward " before imitation. 

25. So it be new. If it be new. Gr. 133. 

There's no respect. There's no thought, no one considers. Cf. J. C. iii. 
2. 15 : " Have respect to my honour ;" that is, look to it, consider it. 

26. Btizz'd. Whispered. Cf. Heit. VIII ii. 1. 148 : 

y did you not of late days hear 
A buzzing of a separation 
Between the king and Katherine?" 

27. All too late. For this adverbial use oi all, see Gr. 28. 

28. Where will, etc. " Where the will rebels against what the under- 
standing sees to be right " (C. P. ed.). Regard in S. often means view. 



172 



NOTES. 



estimation, etc. Cf. M. of V. i. i. 62 : " Your worth is very dear in my 
regard ;" T, and C. iii. 3. 128 : " Most abject in regard, and dear in 
use," etc. 

29. Himself. See Gr. 20. 

31. Methinks. See Mer. p. 135, and Gr. 297. 

40-55. This splendid passage is given in England^ s Parnassus, a col- 
lection of poetical extracts from various authors, printed in 1600. It is 
there by mistake attributed to Michael Drayton (C. P. ed.). 

44. Infection. It is "intestion" in England'' s Parnassus. Johnson 
says : " I once suspected that for infection we might read ijtvasion ; but 
the copies all agree, and I suppose S. meant to say that islanders are 
secured by their situation both from war and pestilence.'''' Sr. remarks : 
" The poet may allude to the infection of vicious manners and customs." 

49. Envy. Malice, hatred ; as often in S. Cf. J. C. ii. i. 164 : " Like 
wrath in death, and envy afterwards," etc. 

50. Less happier. S. often uses the double comparative with more 
(and the superlative with most), but that with less only in this instance. 
See Gr. 11. 

52, Feared by their breed. For by = oxi account of, see Gr. 146. The 
folio has "for their birth." 

55. Sepulchre. See on i. 3. 196. For y^wrj/=Judea, cf. y*?/^;?, vii. i. 

59. Is now leas'' d out. Cf. i. 4. 45. 

60. Pelting. Petty, paltry. Cf. Z^ar, ii. 3. 18: "poor, pelting villages;" 
M.for M. ii. 2. 112 : "every pelting petty officer," etc. 

62. Cf. i. 4. 48, and see note. For blots Steevens conjectured bolts, ex- 
plaining " inky bolts " as "written restrictions ;" but, as Boswell suggests, 
" inky blots " is simply " a contemptuous term for writings." 

68. Ensuing. Coming, approaching. Cf. Hen. VIII. ii. i. 140 : " I can 
give you inkling Of an ensuing evil ;" Per. ii. i. 7 : " Nothing to think 
on but ensuing death." 

70. Being rag'd. Abbott (Gr. 460) gives rag'd as an example of " pre- 
fixes dropped." Ritson conjectured " rein'd," which Sr. approves. The 
Coll. MS. has "urg'd." "Chaf'd" and "curb'd" have also been sug- 
gested. 

71. S. has deviated from historical truth in introducing the Queen here. 
Anne, Richard's first wife, was dead ; and Isabel of France, his second 
wife, was at this time only nine years old. They were married Nov. i, 
1396. 

73. This and the twenty succeeding lines were put in the margin by 
Pope as being either spurious or unworthy of Shakespeare. But, as the 
C. P. ed. remarks, "such playing upon words in a time of the deepest af- 
fliction is quite in accordance with truth and nature, and therefore really 
pathetic." Coleridge has answered the king's question in line 84 (" Can 
sick men play so nicely with their names ?") as follows : 

" Yes ! on a death-bed there is a feeling which may make all things 
appear but as puns and equivocations. And a passion there is that car- 
ries off its own excess by plays on words as naturally, and, therefore, as 
appropriately to drama, as by gesticulations, looks, or tones. This be- 
longs to human nature as such, independently of associations and habits 



ACT II. SCENE I. 



173 



from any particular rank of life or mode of employment ; and in this 
consists Shakespeare's vulgarisms, as in Macbeth's 

'The devil damn thee black, thou cream-fac'd loon!' etc. 

This is (to equivocate on Dante's words) in truth the nobile volgare elo- 
quenza. Indeed, it is profoundly true that there is a natural, an almost 
irresistible, tendency in the mind, when immersed in one strong feeling, 
to connect that feeling with every sight and object around it ; especially 
if there be opposition, and the words addressed to it are in any way re- 
pugnant to the feeling itself, as here in the instance of Richard's unkind 

language : 

' Misery makes sport to mock itself.' 

" No doubt, something of Shakespeare's punning must be attributed to 
his age, in which direct and formal combats of wit were a favourite pas- 
time of the courtly and accomplished. It was an age more favourable, 
upon the whole, to vigour of intellect than the present, in which a dread 
of being thought pedantic dispirits and flattens the energies of original 
minds. But independently of this, I have no hesitation in saying that a 
pun, if it be congruous with the feeling of the scene, is not only allowable 
in the dramatic dialogue, but oftentimes one of the most eifectual inten- 
sives of passion." 

Composition. Bodily state. 

83. Inherits. Possesses. See on i. i. 85. 

84. Nicely. Fancifully. Schmidt defines it " sophistically, subtilely," 
and compares T. N. iii. i. 17: "they that dally nicely with words may 
quickly make them wanton." 

86. To kill my name in me. That is, by banishing my heir Boling- 
broke. 

88. Flatter with. The folio omits with. The C. P. ed. refers to T. G. 
ofV. iv. 4. 193 : " Unless I flatter with myself too much." 

90. A -dying. See Gr. 24. 

91. The sicker. On this demonstrative the, see Gr. 94. 

94. /// in myself to see. " I that see being myself ill." Steevens 
thought that to see should be omitted. On the metre, see Gr. 470. 

95. Lesser. A double comparative sonietimes used by good writers 
even now, Worser, which is common in S., is now obsolete. 

loi. Head. The folio has " hand." 

102. Encaged. See Gr. 440, 

Verge. An allusion to the legal term verge^^'Cao. compass of the King's 
court, or the jurisdiction of the lord steward of the royal household, which 
extended for twelve miles round. 

103. The waste. That is, the waste made by the flatterers. 

106. From forth. See Gr, 156. 

107. Possess'' d. For the play on the word, see Gr, 295, On which in 
next line, see Gr, 265. 

no. This land. The folio has "his land." 

113. The folio reading. The first three quartos have "art thou now 
not, not king." Theo. reads " art thou now, not king," which is adopted 
by Coll., Sr., St., and the Camb, ed. 



174 



NOTES. 



114. Thy state of law, etc. Thy legal state (as landlord, and no longer 
king) is subject to the law ; or, as Malone states it, " subject to the same 
legal restrictions as every ordinary pelting farm that has been let on 
lease." 

115. And — . We follow the folio here, as do D., K., Sr., and W. The 
1st quarto reads thus : 

"And thou — 

K. Rich. A lunatic lean-witted fool," etc., 

which Coll., St., and the Camb. ed. adopt. D. calls attention to the fact 
that this makes thou (referring to Richard) the subject oidar'st. 
ir8. Chasing. The folio has the misprint " chafing." 
119. His. For his— its, see Gr. 228 or C. pp. 160-171. 

121. Great Edward''s son. The son of Edward III. — that is, Edward 
the Black Prince, Richard's father. 

122. Roundly. Unrestrainedly, unreservedly. Cf. T. of S. i. 2. 59 : 

" Petruchio, shall I then come roundly to thee, 
And wish thee to a shrewd, ill-fa vour'd wife?" 

A. Y. Z. V. 3. II : "Shall we clap into 't roundly, without hawking or 
spitting or saying we are hoarse ?" 

The adjective round is similarly used ; as in Hen. V.'w. 1.216: " Your 
reproof is something too round ;" T. N. ii. 3. 102 : " I must be round 
with you." 

123. Unreverent. Irreverent, disrespectful. Theo. substituted unrev- 
erend, which W. adopts. 

12^. For that. Because. See Gr. 151, 287. 

126. Like the pelican. Alluding to the fable that the young of the pel- 
ican were fed with blood from its own breast. Cf. Ham. iv. 5. 146 ; 

"And like the kind life-rendering pelican, 
Repast them with my blood." 

See also Lear, iii. 4. 77. 

127. Hast thou tapp''d out. By shedding the Duke of Gloster's blood. 
129. Whom fair befall. To whom may it happen auspiciously ! Cf. 

Rich. LIT. i. 3. 282 : " Now fair befall thee and thy noble house !" See 
also Id. iii. 5. 47 ; T. of S. v. 2. iii ; L. L. L. ii. i. 1124. 

131. Respecfst not. Heedest not, carest not for. Cf. T. G. ofV. v. 4. 
20 : " Though you respect not aught your servant doth ;" J. C. iv. 3. 72 ; 
" the idle wind, Which I respect not ;" Cymb. i. 6. 155 : 

" he hath a court 
He little cares for, and a daughter who 
He not respects at all." 

133. Crooked. " S. had probably two different but kindred ideas in his 
mind — the bend of age, and the sickle of time " (Mason). Steevens 
quotes the tragedy oi Locrine (which has been attributed to S.) : " Now 
yield to death o'erlaid by crooked age." Malone cites several other 
instances of the expression. 

134. A too-long wither'' d flower. On "phrase compounds" in S., see 
Gr. 434. 

138. Love they to live. Let them love to live. See Gr. 364. 



ACT II. SCENE I 



175 



139. Sullens. Used nowhere else as a noun by S. Dyce {Glossary) 
quotes Lyly's Sapho and Fhao, ed. 1591 : " Like you, Pandion, who being 
sick of the sullens, will seeke no friend." 

141. For the measure (and also for 147), see Gr. 468. D. omits " I do," 
following Steevens. 

145. " The king chooses to misunderstand York's meaning, by taking 
Harry duke of Hereford as nominative, not accusative " (C. P. ed.). 

148. On the measure, see Gr. 482. Capell and Steevens read " What 
says he now?" and Pope, *' What says old Gaunt.-*" 

1 56. Rug-headed kerns. A kern was an Irish light-armed foot-soldier. 
They are called rug-headed because their heads were "like the rugs 
which the peasants wore as outer garments" (Coll.). Cf. 2 Hen.VI. iii. 

1. 367 : " Full often like a shag-hair'd crafty kern." See also Macb. i. 

2. 13, 30 ; Id. V. 7. 17 ; Hen. V. iii. 7. 56. 

157. Which live, etc. For which, see Gr. 268. The allusion to the 
absence of snakes in Ireland is obvious. Steevens "quotes Decker, H. W. 
(1630) : 

" that Irish Judas, 
Bred in a country where no venom prospers 
But in his blood." 

158. But only. See Gr. 130 ; and on for in next line, Gr. 151. 

159. Ask some charge. Call for some expense, require some outlay. 
Cf M. N. £>. i. 2. 27 : "that will ask some tears ;" T. of S. ii. i. 115 : 
" my business asketh haste." On charge, cf y. C. iv. i. 9 : " How to cut 
off some charge in legacies ;" 7^ Johji, i. i. 49 : 

" Our abbeys and our priories shall pay 
This expedition's charge." 

166. Gaunfs rebukes. The rebukes given to Gaunt. 

167. Bolingbroke, when exiled, went to France, and obtained in mar- 
riage the only daughter of the Duke of Berry, uncle to the French king ; 
but Richard sent the Earl of Salisbury to France to calumniate his 
cousin, and thus prevented the match. 

169. Have ever made. For the plural verb, see Gr. 408. 

171. The last. That is, the last surviving. 

1^3. jRag'd. That is, that raged. See Gr. 244; and for the omission 
of the article before lamb and lion, Gr. 84. Schmidt makes rag''d here = 
enraged, as in 70 above. 

177. Accomplished, etc. When he had reached thy age. Accomplish 
means to make complete. Cf Hen. V. 'iv. chorus, 12 : " The armourers 
accomplishing the knights ;" that is, completely equipping them. 

Richard was at this time thirty-two years old. His father, who died 
at the age of forty-six, was sixteen when he fought at Crecy in 1346, and 
twenty-six at Poictiers. 

185. Compare betzueen. We do not now say to compare between, though 
to m.ake comparison between is allowable. 

197. Ensue. Not now used transitively. Cf R.ofL. 502: "I know 
repentant tears ensue the deed." See also i Peter, iii. 11. 

199. Succession. Four syllables. See on 23 above. 



176 NOTES, 

200. Afore. Before ; used of both place and time. Cf Hen. V. iii. 
6. 32 : " Fortune is painted blind, with a muffler afore her eyes ;" Temp. 
iv. I. 7 : " Here, afore heaven," etc. S. also uses the word as an adverb 
{Temp. ii. 2. 78) and as a conjunction (2 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 220). We find 
also aforehand (=beforehand) in L. L. L. v. 2. 461 : "Knowing afore- 
hand of our merriment." Tofore occurs in L. L. L. iii. i. 83 and T. A. 
iii. I. 294. 

202. Letters-patents. The double plural is found also in Holinshed. 
See Gr. 338, 433. D. remarks that even Pope, writing to Craggs in 1712, 
uses the expression, " letters-patents." 

203. Attorneys general. An attorney general is " he that by general 
authority is appointed to act in all our affairs or suits " (Cowel's Law 
Interpreter, quoted in C. P. ed.). To sue livery was to claim delivery to 
him, as lawful heir, of all property and rights of which Gaunt, his prede- 
cessor, had feudal tenure. " In feudal times, when a vassal died, the 
heir, if under age, became a ward of the king ; but if he was of full age, 
he had the right to sue out a writ of ozister-le-main — that is, his livery — 
that the king's hand might be taken off, and the land delivered to him " 
(Malone). 

207. Prick. Spur, incite. Cf. ii. 3. 78 below. See also T. of S. iii. 2. 
75 : " 'Tis some odd humour pricks him to this fashion," etc. 
211. The while. See Gr. 137. 

213. By bad courses. For (^ji/= concerning, with reference to, see Gr. 
145. As Schmidt remarks, this sense of by is found only with " verbs of 
speaking and thinking." 

214. Events. Issues, results. Cf. Temp. iii. i. 69 : "And crown what 
I profess with kind event," etc. 

215. The Earl of Wiltshire. Sir William Scrope, created Earl in 1397. 
He was treasurer of England, and one of those to whom the realm was 
farmed. See 256 below. 

217. To see this business. See to it, attend to it. Cf. T. of S. i. 2. 147 : 
"see that at any hand," etc. Business is here a trisyllable, as in J. C. 
iv. I. 22 : " To groan and sweat under the business," etc. See Gr. 479. 

To-morrow next. " A pleonasm not elsewhere used by S." (C. P. ed.). 

218. We will for Ireland. See Gr. 405. 
222. Our queen. See Gr. 13. 

226. Barely. Merely, only. Cf. M. of V. iv. i. 342 : " Shall I not have 
barely my principal ?" 

228. Great. Teeming (with indignation). Cf. Ham. i. 2. 159 ; " But 
break, my heart ; for I must hold my tongue." 

229. Liberal tongue. Free speech. Cf 0th. v. 2. 220 : " No, I will 
speaic as liberal as the north." 

232. Tends that, etc. Does that which you would say tend, etc. 
Gr. 244. 

239. Moe. More. See Mer. p. 129, or Gr. 17. 

242. What they will inform. Whatever accusations they may bring. 
Cf Hatn. iv. 4. 32 : " How all occasions do inform against me ;" Lear, 
iv. 2. 93 : "he informed against him." It is used transitively, as here, in 
A. W. iv. I. 91 : "haply thou mayst inform Something to save thy life." 



ACT II. SCENE L 177 

245. Our lives. The Coll. MS. has " our wives ;" but, as D. remarks, 
it is strongly opposed, if not absolutely forbidden, by Hen. V. \. 2. 34 : 

" That owe yourselves, your lives, and semces 
To this imperial throne." 

246. PilVd. Stripped, plundered. Cf. Rich. III. i. 3. 159 : " In shar- 
ing that which you have pill'd from me." For/z7/=peel, see M. of V. 
i. 3. 85: "The skilful shepherd pill'd me certain wands." The two 
words are probably the same etymologically. See Wb. under peel. 
Peel— ^iWdigQ, rob, is found in Milton, P. R. iv. 136 : " Peeling their prov- 
inces ;" and in Isa. xviii. 2, 7 ; Ezra, xxix. i'8. 

247. And lost their hearts. The early eds. all have " And quite lost 
their hearts." Pope was the first to drop '* quite." See Gr. 480. 

250. Blanks. The " blank charters " of i. 4. 48. See note. Benevo- 
lences =ioxctd. loans. According to Holinshed, the word was first used 
in this sense by Edward IV. in 1473. If so, it is here an anachronism. 
On the measure, see Gr. 471. 

251. O' God's name. The quartos have " a God's name." See Gr. 24. 
254. The folio reading. The quartos have " That which his noble an- 
cestors," etc. 

258. Hangeth. For the number, see Gr. 336 ; and for the measure of 
the line, Gr. 466. 

_ 263. Sing.^ Cf. Temp. ii. 2. 20: "Another storm brewing; I hear it 
sing i' the wind." See also M. W. iii. 2. 38. 

265. Sit sore. Press heavily. Cf. below, ii. 2. 123 : " The wind sits 
fair for news to go to Ireland." 

266. Strike not. Do not strike our sails. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. v. 2. 18 : 
"That must strike sail to spirits of vile sort." 

Securely. Carelessly. See on i. 3. 97. Cf. Gr. p. 12. 

267. Wrack. Wreck. The invariable form of the word in S. In 
R. of L. 841 and 966 it rhymes with back. 

268. Unavoided. Pope changed the word to ujiavoidable, which is of 
course its meaning here. But unavoided occurs in the same sense in 
I Hen. VI. iv. 5. 8, Rich. III. iv, i. 56, and iv. 4. 217. Cf. i7nagined=\m- 
aginable, in M. of V. iii. 4. 52 ; unvalued=\x\N2X\xi\At, in Rich. III. i. 4. 
27 ; etc. See Gr. 375. 

272. Tidings. Here singular, as in iii. 4. 80 ; but generally plural in 
S., as in J. C. v. 3. 54 : " These tidings will well comfort Cassius." 

275, 276. St. explains the passage thus : "We are all leagued together, 
and whatever you speak will be as safe in our keeping as if you had only 
thought it." D. quotes a writer in Blackwood's Mag. (Sept. 1853) who 
renders it : " We three are but yourself, and in these circumstances your 
words are but as thoughts^that is, you are as safe in uttering them as if 
you uttered them not, inasmuch as you will be merely speaking to your- 
self." The Coll. MS. reads "our thoughts," which Sr. adopts. 

279. Renald. That is, Reginald. The early eds. read Rainold, Ray- 
nold, Rainald, and Raynald, which indicate the pronunciation of the name. 

There is evidently some omission or corruption at this point in the 
text, as it was not Reginald Lord Cobham who escaped from the custody 

M 



lyS NOTES. 

of the Duke of Exeter ; neither was he the brother of the Archbishop of 
Canterbury. According to Holinshed, it was " Thomas (not Richard, as 
the C. P. ed. accidentally gives it) Arundel, son and heir to the late Earl 
of Arundel." Malone therefore inserted here, in brackets, the line 
" The son of Richard Earl of Arundel." 

This is consistent with the historical facts and with the context. "■ His 
brother," in line 282, then refers, as it should, to the brother of Richard 
Earl of Arundel. 

283. Sir John Ramston. " Sir Thomas Ramston," according to Hol- 
inshed. 

286. Tall ships. Cf. M. of V. iii. i. 6 ; 0th. ii. i. 79, etc. 

287. Expedience. Expedition. Cf. HenJV. iv. 3. 70 : " And will with 
all expedience charge on us." See ^\so expedient \n i. 4. 39 above. 

290. Stay. Stay for, await. Cf. T. G. of F. ii. 2. 13 : " My father ^tays 
my coming ;" A. V. L. iii. 2. 221 : " let me stay the growth of his beard," 
etc. 

292. Imp out. Repair, strengthen. To imp originally meant to graft. 
To imp out the wing of a hawk was to supply new feathers in place of 
lost or broken ones. Turbervile, in his Booke of Faulconrie, has a whole 
chapter on " The Way and Manner howe to ympe a Hawke's Feather, 
how-soever it be broken or broosed." Cf. Massinger, Renegado, v. 8 : 

" Strive to imp 
New feathers to the broken wings of Time;" 

Milton, Sonn. x. 8 : 

" and the false North displays 
Her broken league to imp their serpent wings;" 

Dryden, Ann. Mii'ab. st. 143 : 

" His navy's moulted wings he imps once more." 

See also examples in Wb. s. v. 

293. From broking pawn. That is, from the pawnbroker. The verb 
to broke is rare. S. uses it only here and in A. W. iii. 5. 74. Nares 
quotes examples from B. and F. and Daniel. See also Wb. s. v. 

295. In post. " In haste," as it reads in 3d and 4th folios. Cf. C. of E. 
i. 2. 63 : "I from my mistress come to you in post ;" R. and J. v. 3. 273 : 
"And then in post he came from Mantua," etc. We find "in all post " 
in Rich. III. iii. 5. 73 ; and " all in post " in R. of L. i. 

Ravenspurg (also called Ravensburg, Ravensptirn, etc.) was an impor- 
tant port at the mouth of the Humber, sheltered from the sea by the point 
now known as Spurn Head. In 1346 it had suffered so much from the 
inroads of the sea that the merchants residing there removed to Hull. 
The high tides of 1357 and subsequent years swept away nearly all that 
remained of the town, and but few vestiges of the ancient port could have 
been left at the time of Bolingbroke's landing. In 1471, Edward IV. 
also landed here, after his brief exile in Holland. In the town of Hedon, 
a few miles distant, there still stands a beautiful old cross, which is be- 
lieved to have been erected at Ravenspurg in memory of the landing of 
Bolingbroke. To prevent its destruction by the sea, it was first removed 



ACT II. SCENE II. 179 

to Kilnsea, arid again in 1818 to Burton Constable, whence it was in 1832 
taken to Hedon. 

298. Be secret. Cf. T. G. of V. iii. i. 60: ''wherein thou must be se- 
cret ;" Much Ado, i. I. 212 : "I can be secret as a dumb man," etc. 

300. Hold out my horse. Let my horse hold out. See Gr. 361. 

Scene II. — The events in scenes ii. and iv. are thus related by Hol- 
inshed : 

*' It fortuned at the same time in which the Duke of Hereford or Lan- 
caster, whether ye list to call him, arrived thus in England, the seas were 
so troubled by tempests, and the winds blew so contrary for any passage 
to come over forth of England to the King, remaining still in Ireland, 
that for the space of six weeks he received no advertisements from 
thence: yet at length, when the seas became calm, and the wind once 
turned anything favourable, there came over a ship, whereby the King 
understood the manner of the Duke's arrival ; whereupon he meant 
forthwith to have returned over into England, to make resistance against 
the Duke ; but through persuasion of the Duke of Aumerle (as was 
thought) he stayed till he might have all his ships and other provision 
fully ready for his passage. 

" In the meantime he sent the Earl of Salisbury over into England to 
gather a power together, by help of the King's friends in Wales and 
Cheshire, with all speed possible, that they might be ready to assist him 
against the Duke upon his arrival, for he meant himself to follow the 
Earl within six days after. The Earl, passing over into Wales, landed 
at Conway, and sent forth letters to the King's friends, both in Wales 
and Cheshire, to levy their people and to come with all speed to assist 
the King, whose request, with great desire and very willing minds, they 
did, hoping to have found the King himself at Conway, insomuch that, 
within four days' space, there were to the number of forty thousand men 
assembled, ready to march with the King against his enemies if he had 
been there himself in person. But when they missed the King, there 
was a bruit spread among them that the King was surely dead, which 
wrought such an impression and evil disposition in the minds of the 
Welshmen and others, that, for any persuasion which the Earl of Salis* 
bury might use, they would not go forth with him till they saw the King ; 
only they were contented to stay fourteen days to see if he should come 
or not ; but when he came not within that term, they would no longer 
abide, but scaled and departed away." 

1. Too much sad. Cf. Hen. V. ii. 4. 53 : " Our too much memorable 
shame." Gr. 51. 

2. With. See Gr. 194. 

3. Life-harming. The reading of the ist and 2d quartos. The 2d 
and 3d quartos have ** halfe -harming ;" and the folio, "selfe-harming." 

4. Entertain. Maintain. Cf. R. of L. 1514 : "He entertain'd a show 
so seeming just ;" M. of V. i. i. 90 : " And do a wilful stillness entertain." 

9. Again. See Gr. 27. 

12. On with in this line and the next, see Gr. 193. 



i86 NOTES. 

" The queen's melancholy, for which there is no sufficient cause ap- 
parent, may be compared with that of Antonio at the beginning of the 
M. of V. In both cases the poet wishes to convey a presentiment of ap- 
proaching disaster " (C. P. ed.). 

" Mark in this scene Shakespeare's gentleness in touching the tender 
superstitions, the terrce hicognitcB of presentiments, in the human mind ; 
and how sharp a line of distinction he commonly draws between these 
obscure forecastings of general experience in each individual and the 
vulgar errors of mere tradition. Indeed, it may be taken once for all as 
the truth, that Shakespeare, in the absolute universality of his genius, al- 
ways reverences whatever arises out of our moral nature ; he never pro- 
fanes his muse with a contemptuous reasoning away of the genuine and 
general, however unaccountable, feelings of mankind " (Coleridge). 

15. Which shows. On the number, see Gr. 247 ; on shows, Gr. 293. 

18. Perspectives. These were pictures which were produced by cut- 
ting the surface or edge of a board, so that it should present a number of 
sides or flats when looked at obliquely. To these sides a print or draw- 
ing, cut into parts, was affixed, so that when viewed obliquely, or " awry," 
the whole picture was seen ; but, looked at directly, or " rightly," nothing 
appeared but confusion. 

Staunton quotes Plot's Natural Hist, of Staffordshire: "At the right 
Honourable the Lord Gerard's at Gerards Bromley, there are the 
pictures of Henry the Great of France and his Queen, both upon the 
same indented board, which if beheld directly, you only perceive a 
confused piece of work; but if obliquely, of one side you see the 
king's and on the other the queen's picture." 

Cf. T. N. V. I. 224 : 

" One face, one voice, one habit, and two persons, 
A natural perspective, that is and is not!" 

Hen. V. V. 2. 447 : " Yes, my lord, you see them perspectively, the cities 
turned into a maid." 

Perspective also meant a kind of glass by which optical illusions were 
produced. Cf. A. ^ v. 3. 48 : 

" Contempt his scornful perspective did lend me. 
Which warp'd the line of every other favour." 

See also Sonnet 24. 
D. quotes Baxter's Sir P. Sydney's Ourania (1606) : 

" Glasses perspective, 
Composed by Arte Geometricall, 
Whereby beene wrought thinges Supernaturall ; 
Men with halfe bodies, men going in th' Ayre, 
Men all deformed, men as angels fayre, 
Besides other thinges of great admiration. 
Wrought by this Glasses Fabrication." 

Scot, in his Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584), mentions several kinds of 
perspective glasses, one of which is thus described : " There be glasses 
also wherein one man may see another man's image, and not his own." 
Hobbes also, in a letter to Davenant, printed in the 165 1 ed. of Gondibert, 
speaks of " a curious kind of perspective, where he that looks through a 



ACT II. SCENE IL i8i 

short hollow pipe, upon a picture containing divers figures, sees none of 
those that are there painted, but some one person made up of their parts, 
conveyed to the eye by the artificial cutting of a glass." 

On the accent oi perspectives, see Gr. 492. 

20. Distmgidsh form. Make the form distinct. 

25. The line is an Alexandrine. See Gr. 498. 

29. On the measure, see Gr. 494 ; and for line 29, Gr. 497. 

30. Heavy. See Gr. i (Abbott refers to Gr. 2). 

31. Johnson suggested "in thinking," which is adopted by Coll., St., 
D., and others. The sense is the same either way. The queen means 
that she can fix her thoughts on nothing. 

On the use of as and the construction of makes, see Gr. 280. 

'X'X. Conceit. Fancy, or " fanciful conception " (Malone). Cf. W. T. 
iii. 2. 145 : " with mere conceit and fear ;" T. of A. v. 4. 14 : " When thy 
first griefs were but a mere conceit." On the various uses oi conceit in S., 
see Schmidt or C., p. 202. He never uses it in its modern sense. 

34. ' T is nothing less. Nothing can be less so ; it is anything but fancy. 
Cf. Latimer, Sermons : " Many things were taken for prayer, when they 
were nothing less." 

Still. Always. See Gr. 69. The conception of grief, she says, is al- 
ways derived from some actual grief. 

36-38. The sense is obscured by the play upon words, and some of the 
commentators, like Johnson, have been puzzled to make it out. Collier 
suggests that " either nothing hath begotten the queen's grief, or there 
really is something in the nothing that she grieves about;" and this 
something, we may add, she possesses in reversion because she must wait 
for the future to reveal it to her—" what it is, that is not yet known." 

41. On the measure, cf. ii. i. 141, 147 above. Gr. 468. 

43. 'Tis better hope. Cf. Gr. 351. 

46. Retired his power. Withdrawn his forces. On the transitive use 
of retire, see Gr. 291 ; and cf, R. of L. 303 : " Each one by him enforc'd 
retires his ward." On /^w^r= armed force, cf. K. John, iv. 2. no : 

" Never such a power 
For any foreign preparation 
Was levied in the body of a land." 

See also iii. 2. 63 below. S. often uses both the singular and the plural 
in this sense. For the latter see below, v. 3. 140 ; J. C. iv. i. 42 ; Id. iv. 
3. 308, etc. 

49. Repeals. Recalls from exile. Cf. J,. C. iii. i. 51 : " For the repeal- 
ing of my banish'd brother." See also iv. i. 87 below. 

50. Uplifted arms. Cf. Temp. iii. 3. 68 : 

" Your swords are now too massy for your strength, 
And will not be uplifted." 

52. And that is worse. And what (that which) is worse. Rowe (fol- 
lowed by W.) changed that to what, but the omission of the relative is 
common enough. See Gr. 244. 

53. His son young Heiiry Percy. The reading of the 1st quarto. The 
other early eds. have " His young son," etc. 



JiS2 



NOTES. 



57. The ist quarto has, "And all the rest revolted faction traitors;" 
the 2d quarto and the folio, " And the rest of the revolted faction trai- 
tors ;" the 3d and 4th quartos, "And the rest of the revolting faction 
traitors." Abbott ("quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus") interprets 
the line thus, in Gr. 246 : 

" And all the rest (that are) revolted, faction-traitors." 

58. The Earl of Worcester. Thomas Percy, lordsteward of the king's 
household, and brother of the Earl of Northumberland. For the meas- 
ure of the line, see Gr. 487, 497. 

59. Hath broke his staff. Holinshed calls it " his white staff, which is 
the representing sign and token of his office." On broke, see Gr. 343. 

61. For the short line, see Gr. 511. 

71. Dissolve. In its etymological sense of loosen, undo. Ci. T.and C. 
V. 2. 156 : " The bonds of heaven are slipp'd, dissolv'd, and loos'd." 

72. Lingers in extremity. Causes to linger in extreme misery. Cf. 
M. N. D. i. I. 4 : " She lingers my desires." 

74. Sigtts of war. Armour ; the military gorget. Cf. T. and C. i. 3. 
174. 

75. Careful. Full of care, anxious. Cf. C. of E. v. i. 298 : 

"And careful hours witTi time's deformed hand 
Have written strange defeatures in my face." 
See Gr. 3. 

76. On the measure, see Gr. 497. 

77. This line is not in the folio. 

80. Your husband he. Cf. " The nobles they " in 88 below, and see 
Gr. 243. 

84. Cf. Lear, i. 2. 129 : "when we are sick in fortune — often the surfeit 
of our own behaviour." 

87. Why, so. Well, be it so. This use of so to express " acquiescence 
or approbation " (Schmidt) is common in S., though we believe Abbott 
does not mention it in his Gr. Cf. Macb. iii. 4. 107 : " Why, so ;" M. of 
V. i. 3. 170: "If he will take it, so; if not, adieu;" Temp. i. 2. 24; 
M.for M. ii. 4. 84 ; T. G. of V. ii. i. 137 ; etc. 

88. For the measure, see Gr. 465. Pope (followed by D.) reads " the 
commons cold." 

90. Get thee. A common reflexive form. Cf. J. C. ii. 4. 37 : " I'll get 
me to a place more void ;" Hen. V. iv. i. 287 : "gets him to rest," etc. 
Gr. 296. On the measure, see Gr. 512. 

91. Presently. Immediately; as very often in S. Cf. Temp.'w. i.i\2: 
"Ariel. Presently.? Prospero. Ay, with a twink." See Mer. p. 131. 

A thousajid pound. Cf. M. W. i. i, 60 : "seven hundred pound;" W. 
T. iv. 3. 40 : " Three pound of sugar, five pound of currants ;" T. and C. 
i. 2. 126 : " within three pound ;" and so frequently, of pounds both ster- 
ling and avoirdupois. On the other hand, cf. M.for M. ii. i. 204 : " four- 
score pounds a year ;" T. of S. v. I. 23 : " Keep your hundred pounds," 
etc. So S. sometimes uses shilling, mile, year, etc. in the plural. See 
Matzner, vol. i. pp. 230, 240. 

On the measure, see Gr. 497. 



ACT II. SCENE IL 183 

92. Hold, take my ring. On this interjectional use of hold, see J.. C. 
p. 140. 

95. To report. For the infinitive, see Gr. 356. 

98. God for his mercy. That is, I pray God for his mercy. Gr. 155. 
.101. So my untruth, etc. Provided no disloyalty in me had provoked 
him to it. On so, see Gr. 133. 

102. My brother's. That is, Gloucester's. 

103. The reading of ist quarto. The folio omits no. For the meas- 
ure, see Gr. 512. 

105. Come, sister — cousin I would say. "This is one of Shakespeare's 
touches of nature. York is talking to the queen, his cousin, but the re- 
cent death of his sister is uppermost in his mind" (Steevens). 

108. On the measure of this line and 1 11, see Gr. 507. Collier suggests 
that the irregularity of the metre here is meant to accord with York's 
perturbed state of mind. 

113. Bids. On the number here and in 115, see Gr. 336. 

119. Berkeley Castle. The quartos omit castle. Berkeley is "Barkly," 
*' Barckly," or " Barkley " in the old copies, indicating the pronunciation. 

The castle is on the southeast side of the town of Berkeley, on a height 
commanding a fine view of the Severn, and is in perfect preservation in 
our day. It was here that Edward II. was murdered, Sept. 21, 1327. Cf. 
Gray, The Bard, 53 : 

" Mark the year, and mark the night, 
When Severn shall reecho with affright 
The shrieks of death thro' Berkeley's roofs that ring. 
Shrieks of an agonizing king !" 

121. At six and seven. The earlier form of the phrase " at sixes and 
sevens," which is still in colloquial use. Its origin is not known. Bacon 
speaks of Pope Sixtus V. as " a fierce thundering friar that would set all 
at six and seven; or at six and five, if you allude to his name." See 
Nares. 
. 122. The wind sits fair. See on ii. i. 265. 

123. Power. See on 46 above. 

125. Is all unpossible. See Gr. 28, 442. The folio has " impossible." 

127. Those love not. Those who love not. Gr. 244. 

128. Thafs the wavering commons. See Gr. 335. 

132. If judgment, etc. " If the power of condemnation lie in the Com- 
mons, then so do we stand condemned." 

136. Office. Service. Cf A. W. ii. i. 129: "I will no more enforce 
my office on you." 

137. Hateful. Full of hate, malignant. Cf 2 Hen. VI. li. 4. 23 : " hide 
thee from their hateful looks." 

141. Presages. In the only other metrical passages in which S. uses 
the word as a noun {K. John, i. i. 28 and iii. 4. 158) the accent is on the 
first syllable. Cf Gr. 490. 

147. Farewell, etc. The folio gives this line to Bushy, as does St. In 
the quartos it is joined to Green's preceding speech. D. and W. give it 
to Bagot. 

148. I fear me. Often used reflexively by S. Ci. Temp. v. i. 283; 



i84 NOTES. 

T. G. of V. ii. 7. 61, 67 ; etc. See also iii. 2. 67 below. Cf. its transitive 
use in M. of V. ii. i. 9 : "this aspect of mine Hath fear'd the valiant;" 
T. of S. i, 2. 211 : "fear boys with bugs," etc. 

Scene III. — 5. On the number of drazvs and makes, see Gr. 333. 
Rowe changed them to the plural. 

7. Delectable. For the accent, see Gr. 492. 

9. Cotswold. Cotswold Downs in Gloucestershire, a famous hunting- 
ground. The quartos spell the word here " Cotshall," and the folio 
" Coltshold." Cf. M. W. i. i. 92 : " How does your fallow greyhound, 
sir? I heard say he was outrun on Cotsall." 

10. In. In the case of. Gr. 162. 

12. Process. " Long course." The C. P. ed. remarks that "the word 
seems always to be used as connoting ' tediousness ' and ' weariness ' ;" 
but that is hardly the case in i Hen. VI. iv. 2. 36 : 

" For ere the glass, that now begins to run. 
Finish the process of his sandy hour." 

Cf. also Sonn. 104. 6. 

15. To joy. To enjoy. Cf. v. 3. 95 below; and for its transitive use, 
v. 6. 26. 

18. For the measure, see Gr. 494; and on line 20, Gr. 506. 

21. Percy is metrically a trisyllable. Gr, 478. 

23. For the measure here and in 25 and 26, see Gr. 512, 513. For line 
24, see Gr. 497 ; for line 29, Gr. 497 or 501. 

27. See ii. 2. 58 above. 

41. Tender. Perhaps used carelessly, as the C. P. ed. suggests ; though 
if it be a pun it could hardly be worse than the one in Cymb. iii. 4. 11 : 

" Why tender' St thou that paper to me with 
A look untender?" 

51. Stir. "The state of being in motion or action" (Schmidt). Cf. 
y. C. i. 3. 127 : "There is no stir or walking in the streets ;" Macb. i. 3. 
144 : " Chance may crown me Without my stir." 

55. For the measure, see Gr. 456. 

61. Unfelt. Expressed in words only, and not in a palpable or sub- 
stantial way. Treasury is the antecedent of which. 

62. Love and labour's recompense. Cf. M. of V. iii. 4. 30 : " Until her 
husband and my lord's return ;" Hot. VIII. ii. 3. 16 : "As soul and body's 
severing." Gr. 397. 

67. For the measure, see Gr. 506. 

70. To Lancaster. That is, I answer to the name of Lancaster, not 
Hereford. 

77. The reading of the ist quarto. The folio has "the most glorious 
of this Land." 

78. Pricks. See on ii. i. 207. 

79. The absent time. " The time of the king's absence " (Johnson). 

80. Self-horn. " Native, home-sprung." Abbott (Gr. 20) explains it 
as "divided against themselves." Schmidt takes the word to be self- 
borne (it is so spelled in all the early eds., but no argument can be based 



ACT II. SCENE III 



185 



?^) \ ?T^*^J' ^"^ defines it " borne for one's self (not for the kins) " 
W. and H. have self -borne ; most other eds. self -born. The only other 
instance of the compound in S. is in W. T. iv. i. 8 ("in one self-born 
nour ) where no one, so far as we are aware, has attempted to define it. 
Schmidt considers it " quite unintelligible." 

81. Need transport. On the omission oUo, see Gr. 349. 

84. Deceivable. Deceptive, treacherous. Cf. 7^ iV. iv -x 21- "There'<; 
something in it That is deceivable." ' 

87 Grace me no grace, etc. Cf R. and J. iii. 5. 153 : " Thank me no 

thankmgs, nor proud me no prouds." Malone cites Solyman and Ferse- 

^ ^« (1599) : Typhon me no Typhous, but swear," etc. ; Peele, Edward I • 

Ease me no easmgs " etc.; Copley, Love's Owle (1595) .- *« All me no 

alls, for all is nought," etc. 

The folio omits "no uncle." 

90. A dust Ci. K.John, iv. i. 93 : *' A grain, a dust, a gnat, a wan- 
dering hair." In /^.lii. 4. 128, we have "each dust." 

91. But then, more why. But then, still more; "but, to add more 
questions (Malone). We follow the ist quarto with Coll., St., Sr W 
et at. The other early eds. have " But more then (than) why " ' '' 

93. Pale-facy. " Proleptic," the effect of the fright being anticipated. 

94. Despised Despicable. Schmidt suggests that it may mean " cre- 
ating despite, hateful." The Coll. MS. has "despoiling." Other con- 
jectures are "despiteful," "disposed," "despited," and "displayed;" 
but, as the C. P. ed. remarks, despised is required as antithetical to osten- 
tatton. Cf. in 109 below ^^/^j/^^= detestable, and in ii. i. 26 unavoided= 
unavoidable. 

99. " It does not appear that S. had any historical authority for this 
statement. No such incident is recorded of the battle of Navarette, at 
which the Black Prince and John of Gaunt were present in 1367. Gaunt 
was not with the Prince at Poictiers in 1356, nor did the Prince accom- 
1^11 ^^^'' ^^s^ expedition to France in 1372 ; and there is no mention 
ot the Duke of York on any of these occasions " (C P ed ) 
, 103. Chastise. Accent on the first syllable, as elsewhere in S. except 
m Temp. v. i. 263. Gr. 471, ^ 

106. On what condition. For on, see Gr. 181. Johnson suggested In, 
which D. adopts. Cf next line. ^h ^^ ^n, 

III. Braving. "Ostentatiously defiant" (C. P. ed.). Cf 143 below 
It seems to be used in a similar sense in ^. ^ i. 2. 3 ; "A braving war '"' 
(Schmidt). s »«•' 

113. For Lancaster. As Lancaster. Cf 2 Ben. VI. i 3 182 • "Doth 
soldiTr!"^Tf gTT48^°' ^ *'^'*°' ■ " ^' ""''"^ ^' '• ^- '9^ •' " ^°' *^^ "^^""^ 
diSnf"'^^^'^''^' -^"^P^^*'^^' ^^- ^''^' ^^^^' "• 4- 17 : " No judge in- 

ring aw^'^e^c? ^^ ^°'''' ^^' ^' '^ ^' '''' ^^ ^^ = "^ook perforce my 
121. Unthrifts Prodigals. Cf. Sonn. 9. 9 : "Look, what an unthrift 
m the world doth spend ;" Sonn. 13. 13 : " O, none but unthrifts." The 
word IS used as an adjective in T. of A. iv. 3. 311 and M. ofV.v i 16 



i86 NOTES. 

122. If that. See Gr. 287. 

123. For the measure, see Gr. 469. 

126. Should. Used where we should use would. Gr. 322. 

127. To rouse a wild beast was to drive him from his lair. Cf. V. and 
A. 240 ; T. A. ii. 2. 21, etc. A stag was said to be at bay, or bayed (cf. 
y. C. iii. I. 204: "Here wast thou bayed, brave hart") or driven to bay, 
when tired out or desperate he turned upon his pursuers. Cf. V. and A. 
877 ; T. ofS. V. 2. 56 ; I Hen. VI. iv. 2. 52, etc. 

128. 129. See on ii. i. 202, 204. 

133. Challenge law. Demand justice, claim my legal rights. CL 0th. 
i. 3. 188 : " So much I challenge ;" 3 Hen. VI. iv. 6. 6 : " Subjects may 
challenge nothing of their sovereigns ;" C. of E. iv. i. 83 : "I shall have 
law in Ephesus ;" M. of V. iv. i. 142 : " I stand here for law." 

135. Free. " Unimpeachable, direct " (C. P. ed.). 

137. It stands .your grace upon. It is incumbent on your grace. Cf. 
Ham. v. 2. 63 : " Does it not, think'st thee, stand me now upon ;" A. and 
C. ii. I. 50: 

" It only stands 
Our lives upon to use our strongest hands." 

142. In this kind. In this manner. So in 146 below. 

143. Be. On the omission and insertion of the infinitive to in the 
same sentence, see Gr. 349, 350. 

144. // may not be. See Gr. 310. 

153. /// left. Left by the king in bad condition. On power =aYmy, 
see on ii. 2. 46. 

155. Attach. Arrest; a law term. Cf. C. of E. iv. i. 6 (see also 73) : 
" I'll attach you by this officer." 

159. In. Into. Cf. M.ofV.v.i.^^i: 

" Here will we sit, and let the sounds of music 
Creep in our ears;" 

Ham. V. I. 301 : '* leaping in her grave." Gr. I59. 

160. Repose you. See Gr. 296. 

163. Bristol. " Bristow" in all the early eds. except 5th quarto, which 
has " BristoU." 

164. Complices. Accomplices. Cf. iii. i. 43 ; 2 Hen. IV. i. i. 163, 
etc. 

166. Weed. To weed caterpillars is to mix metaphors. See Gr. 529 (4). 

167. On the measure, see Gr. 497. 

168. I'll pause. Cf. 158: "I do remain as neuter." 

170. Cf. L. L. L. V. 2. 28 : " Past cure is still past cure ;" Macb. iii. 
2. II : 

" Things without all remedy 
Should be without regard." 

Scene IV. — See introduction to scene ii. above. 

Johnson suggested that this scene had been accidentally misplaced, and 
that it should have been the second of the next act. 

8. Holinshed says: "In this year [1399], in a manner throughout all 
the realm of England, old bay-trees withered, and afterwards, contrary t j 



ACT III. SCENE I. 



187 



all men's thinking, grew green again ; a strange sight, and supposed to 
import some miknown event." 

Tliis was reckoned a bad omen because of the sacred estimation in 
which the bay-tree was held. Lupton, in his Syxt Booke of Notable 
Thmges, says : ** Neyther falling sycknes, neyther devyll, wyll infest or 
hurt one in that place whereas a Bay-tree is. The Romaynes calles it 
the plant of the good angell." 

Evelyn says in his Sylva: "Amongst other things, it has of old been 
observed that the bay is ominous of some funest accident, if that be so 
accounted which Suetonius (in Galba) affirms to have happened before 
the death of the monster Nero, when these trees generally withered to 
the very roots in a very mild winter ; and much later, that in the year 
1629, when at Padua, preceding a great pestilence, almost all the bay 
trees about that famous university grew sick and perished : ' Certo quasi 
praesagio (says my author) Apollinem Musasque subsequenti anno urbe 
ilia bonarum literarum domicilio excessuras.' " 

Johnson remarks : *' This enumeration of prodigies is in the highest 
degree poetical and striking." Cf. J. C. ii. 2. 13 fol. 

II. Lean-looked. Lean-looking. For similar examples, see Gr. 294, 

374. , , 

15. Or fall. These words are found only in the ist quarto ; and the 
same is true oithe in 18 below. 

18. Of heavy mind. On the omission oi my or the, see Gr. 82. 

20. Base. Low. Cf. "base court" in iii. 3. 176, 180 below. 

24. Crossly. Adversely. 




Scene I. — 3. Part. Cf. Per. v. 3. 38 : " We with tears parted Penta- 
polis." We still say, "departed this life." Gr. 198. 

4. Urging. Laying stress upon, dwelling upon. Cf. M. of V, i. i. 144 : 
*' I urge this childhood proof," etc. 



i88 ' NOTES. 

9. Happy. Fortunate. Cf. Macb. i. 3. 66 : " Not so happy, yet 
much happier " (that is, not so fortunate, yet much more blessed). Gr. 
419a. 

10. Unhappied. Made unhappy. Used nowhere else by S. 

Clean. Completely. Cf. Sonn. 75. 10 : " Clean starv'd ;" J. C. i. 3. 
35 : " Clean from the purpose," etc. See also yosktia, iii. 17 ; Ps. Ixxvii. 
8 ; Isa. xxiv. 19, etc. 

1 1. /// manner. In a manner {K. John, v. 7. 89 : " it is in a manner 
done already "), as it were. 

As the queen was only nine years old, and the former queen had died 
five years before, there is no historical ground for the charge which S. 
puts into Bolingbroke's mouth (C.P. ed.). 

13. Broke. See on ii. 2. 59. Gr. 343. 

20. Foreign clouds. " That is, clouds of breath exhaled in foreign 
climes" (Hunter). Cf. jR. and j. i. i. i^<^ : "* Adding to clouds more 
clouds with his deep sighs." 

22. Signories. Estates, manors. Cf. iv. i. 89 below. In Temp. i. 2. 
71, it means principalities. 

23. Dispark'd. To dispark is a legal term, meaning to destroy the en- 
closures of a park and throw it open. 

24. Coat. That is, coat of arms blazoned in the painted windows. 

25. Impress. An emblem or device with a motto, which in this in- 
stance was " Souveraine." 

29. The death. Often used in this sense of " the judicial penalty of 
death." Cf. M.for M. ii. 4. 165 ; M. N. D. i. i. 65, etc. 

For the measure, see Gr. 497. Pope omitted over. 

32. The folio reading. The quartos have, " Than Bolingbroke to Eng- 
land. Lords, farewell." As W. suggests, these two words were proba- 
bly the interpolation of an actor, and were struck out in revising the text 
for the folio. Coll., St., and some other editors retain them. 

37. Entreated. Treated ; as often in S. and other writers of the time. 
Cf. Jer. XV. II ; Acts, vii. 6; I Tim. v. i, etc. 

38. Commends. Commendations, greetings. Cf. M. of V. ii. 9. 90 : 
" Commends and courteous breath." See also iii. 3. 126 below, 

41. At large. That is, expressed fully, or at length. Cf. v. 6. 10 below. 
The phrase occurs often in S. 

42. Pope inserted my before lords, and the Coll. MS. has the same 
emendation. 

44. After. Afterwards. Cf. Temp. ii. 2. 10: "And after bite me," 
etc. The word is an adjective in 0th. i. 3. 35 : " An after fleet ;" that is, 
one sent after. 

Scene II. — i. Barkloughly. Holinshed is the only authority for this 
name, which he spells "Barclowlie" or " Barclowly." It doubtless 
should be " Hertlowly," which some identify as Harlech in North 
Wales. 

Call yoic. The reading of all the early eds. except ist quarto, which 
has "call they." 

2. On the measure, see Gr. 482 ; and for the next line, Gr. 497. 



ACT III. SCENE II. 189 

Brooks^ as Schmidt gives it, here " comes near the sense oi likes.'''' Cf. 
T. G, of V. V. 4. 3 : 

" This shadowy desert, unfrequented woods, 
I better brook than flourishing peopled towns." 

4. Needs. Of necessity. Gr. 25. 

5. To stand. On this "indefinite use of the infinitive," see Gr. 356. 

8. A long-parted mother with her child. A mother long parted from 
her child. Cf. Hen. VIII. iii. i. 134 : " A constant woman to her hus- 
band." See other examples in Gr. 419a. On the use of with^ see Gr. 
194. 

.9. Smiles. We prefer to consider this word a noun, but some make it 
a verb, putting a comma after tears. 

15. Their. The plural pronoun takes the place of the preceding his ; 
or, as has been suggested, it may refer by anticipation to feet. 

19, 20. Cf. Macb. i. 5. 66 : 

"look like the innocent flower, 
But be the serpent under 't." 

21. Double. Forked. Qi.M.N.p.\\.2.(): " You spotted snakes with 
double tongue." 

Mortal. Deadly. Cf. R. of L. 364 : " his mortal sting ;" Rich. III. i. 
2. 146 : " mortal poison ;" Milton, P. L. i. 2 : " that forbidden tree, whose 
mortal taste," jetc. 

23. Conjuration. Adjuration. Ci.IIam.\.2.Ar^: " An earnest conju- 
ration from the king." The verb conjure is still used in a similar sense. 
The conjuration is called .5-^;^j^/(?j-j because addressed to a senseless thing. 

25. Native. "Hereditary, legitimate" (Schmidt). Richard was born 
at Bordeaux. 

26. Rebellious. The reading of the folio and later quartos ; the ist 
and 2d quartos have "rebellion's." 

29-32. Omitted in the folio. 

34. Security. Carelessness. . Cf. y. C. ii. 3.8: " security gives way to 
conspiracy ;" Macb. iii. 5. 32 : " Security Is mortals' chiefest enemy." 
Cf. also the use o{ securely in ii. i. 266 above. 

35. Friends. The folio reading ; the quartos have " power." 

36. Discomfortable. Used by S. nowhere else. Schmidt is doubtful 
whether it means " wanting hope " or " discouraging." 

37. 38. Malone proposed to read, 

"That when the searching eye of heaven, that lights 
The lower world, is hid behind the globe ;" 

but such transpositions are not unusual in S. Cf. i. i. 168 : "Despite of 
death that lives upon my grave." See Gr. 262, 263. Hanmer and John- 
son read " and lights the lower world." Hunter makes the " direct con- 
struction" to be " that lights the lower world behind the globe." 

40. Boldly. The ist quarto has " bouldy ;" the other early eds. 
"bloudy," " bloodie," or "bloody." Coll. conjectured boldly, and has 
been followed by D., W., and others. 
43. Light. The folio has "lightning." 
49. Omitted in the folio, "perhaps intentionally" (W.). 



I90 NOTES, 

55. The balm. The consecrated oil. Cf. 3 Hen. VI. iii. i. 17 : "The 
balm wash'd off wherewith thou wast anointed." See also iv. i. 207 
below. 

58. Press" d. Impressed, forced into military service. Cf. Cor. iii. i. 
122 : "being press'd to the war ;" i Hen. IV. iv. 2. 16, 22, 40, etc. 

59. Shrewd. "Sharp" (C. P. ed.), or perhaps better, "evil, wicked," 
as Schmidt explains it. See notes on the word in owx Hen. VIII. p. 202 
and C. pp. 221-224. 

64. Near. The old form of nearer. See Gr. 478, and cf. v. i. 88 
below. 

70. Twelve thousand. Holinshed makes it forty thousand. 
76. But now. A moment ago. See Gr. 130. 
80. Will. See Gr. 319. 

84. Sluggard. The folio reading ; the quartos have " coward." 

85. Forty. As in folio ; the quartos have " twenty." 

91. Sir Stephen Scroop, or Scrope, of Masham, elder brother to Will- 
iam, Earl of Wiltshire, was distinguished for his loyalty to Richard. 

92. Deliver. Cf iii. 3. 34 and iv. i. 9 below ; also Temp. ii. i- 45 : "as 
he most learnedly delivered." 

94. The worst thou canst unfold is worldly loss. See on 37, 38 above. 

109. His. Its. Gr. 228. 

no. Fearfid. Full of fear. Cf iii. 3. 73 below ; V.and A. 6^] : "these 
fearful creatures;" that is, "the timorous flying hare" (called "the fear- 
ful, flying hare" in 2) Hen. VI. ii. 5. 130), the fox, and the roe. See also 
Jicdges, vii. 3 ; Matt. viii. 26, etc. 

112. White-beards. That is, white-bearded men. The folio has " White 
Beares." Thin and hairless means, of course, with thin hair or none. 

114. Clap their fetnale joints. Hastily thrust their weak, womanish 
limbs. Pope changed clap to "clasp," and the Coll. MS. gives "feeble" 
iox female. Cf Temp. v. I. 231 : " Clapped under hatches ;" i Hen. IV. 
ii. 4. 25 : "a pennyworth of sugar clapped into my hand," etc. 

115. In. Into. Cf ii. 3. 160 above. Gr. 159. 

116. Beadsmen. " Old pensioners, so called because they were bound 
to pray for those by whose alms they were supported " (C. P. ed.). Cf 
T. G.of V.\.\. 18 : " I will be thy beadsman, Valentine." See also Hen. 
F. iv. I. 315. 

117. Double-fatal. Doubly fatal, "because the leaves of the yew are 
poison, and the wood is employed for instruments of death" (Warbur- 
ton). Yew is spelled "ewe" and "eugh" in the early eds. In the 3d 
and 4th quartos it is misprinted "woe." Cf Spenser, F. Q. i. i, 9 : "The 
Eugh, obedient to the benders will." 

iiZ. Manage. Handle, wield. Ci. R. and y.\.i.'j6: 

" Put up thy sword, 
Or manage it to part these men with me." 

Bills were " a kind of pike or halbert, formerly carried by the English 
infantry, and afterwards the usual weapon of watchmen" (Nares). Cf 
Much Ado, iii. 3. 44 ; R. and J.h. i. 80, etc. 

Lines 112-120 are thus pointed in the folio : 



ACT III. SCENE 11. 191 

" White Beares haue arm'd their thin and hairelesse Scalps 
Against thy Maiestie, and Boyes with Womens Voyces, 
Striue to speake bigge, and clap their female ioints 
In stiffe vnwieldie Armes : against thy Crowne 
Thy very Beads-men learne to bend their Bowes 
Of double fatall Eugh : against thy State 
Yea Distaffe-Women manage rustie Bills : 
Against thy Seat both young and old rebell, 
And all goes worse then I haue power to tell." 

St, adopts this division of the sentences. 
121. Ci.Macb.'w.^'il^' 

"O, relation 
Too nice, and yet too true!" 

125. Peaceful. Undisturbed, unresisted. 

126. Heads. The folio has "hands." 

128. Peace. Cf. the play on the word in Macb. iv. 3. 178, 179. 

131. Heart-blood. See Gr. 22. 

132. Three yudases. Four names are mentioned in 122, 123. Accord- 
ing to Holinshed, Bagot escaped to Chester, and thence to Ireland. Theo. 
therefore proposed to read "he got" for "Bagot" in 122. 

134. Offence. Omitted in quartos. 

135. His property. Its proper nature. See on 109 above. 

139. Hand. The quartos have " wound." 

140. Grav'd. Buried. See Gr. 294. 

141. Is. See Gr. 335, 336, and cf. iii. 3. 168 ; iii. 4. 24 (folio, " comes"), 
etc. 

143. Power. See on ii. 2. 46. 

153. Model. Johnson says: "He uses model for mould; that earth, 
which, closing upon the body, takes its form." Malone explains it in ?. 
similar way. According to Douce, the word here "seems to mean a 
measure, portion, or quantity." See Trench's Select Glossary, s. v. 

154. "A metaphor, not of the most sublime kind, taken from a pie'''' 
(Johnson). 

158. The ghosts they have deposed. The ghosts of those whom they 
have deposed. " The Elizabethan writers objected to scarcely any ellip- 
sis, provided the deficiency could be easily supplied from the context" 
(Gr.382). 

161. Rounds. Surrounds, encircles. Cf. AI. N. D. iv. i. 56 : 

" For she his hairy temples then had rounded 
With coronet of fresh and fragrant flowers." 

Douce suggests that this passage was suggested by one of the illustra- 
tions in the Imagines Mortis, improperly attributed to Holbein. The 
picture represents a king on his throne, with courtiers about him, while 
a grinning skeleton stands behind in the act of removing the crown from 
his head. Death is not sitting in the crown, as S. expresses it, and as 
the commentators also state it, though any one who looks carefully at the 
fac-simile of the picture (see Knight's pictorial ed.) will see how the mis- 
take originated. The skeleton, being directly behind the king, appears at 
first glance to be rising from the crown. Some of the editors say that 



192 NOTES. 

he is sitting in the crown and taking it off — a mechanical impossibility, 
though we will not assert that a ghost would find it such. 

162. Antic, Buffoon. Cf. HeJt. VI. iv. 7. 18 : " Thou antic death, 
which laugh'st us here to scorn." 
• 163. Scoffing his state. That is, «/ his state. Gr. 200. 

164. A breath. A brief time. Cf. K. John, iii. 4. 134 : " One minute, 
nay one quiet breath of rest." See also Hen. V. ii. 4. 145. 

166. Self and vain conceit. Vain self-conceit, or estimate of self. See 
on ii. 2. 33. 

168. Himiour'd. Abbott (Gr. 378) explains the construction thus : 

"And, (man having been) humour' d thus, 
(Death) comes at the last." 

It is doubtful, as Schmidt suggests, whether humour' d is to be construed 
thus, or as^'^in this humour,"* referring to Death. 

173. Tradition. "Traditional practices; that is, established or cus-' 
tomary homage " (Johnson). " Addition " was suggested by Roderick, 
and D. approves it, but no change seems called for. 

174. Mistook. Cf y. C. i. 2. 48, and see Gr. 343. 

175. With bread. Cf. I Hcji. IV. iii. i. 162 : "I had rather live With 
cheese and garlic." Gr. 193. On the measure, see Gr. 510. Perhaps 
something has dropped out of the text here. 

176. Subjected. Made a subject; antithetical to king in next line. 

178. The folio reading. The quartos have "ne'er sit and wail their 
woes." 

179. Presently. Immediately. Gr. 59. 

182. Omitted in the folio. 

183. To fight. To fighting; to you if you fight. Gr. 356. 

184. " That is, to die fighting is to return the evil that we suffer, to 
destroy the destroyers " (Johnson). 

185. Where. Whereas. See Gr. 134. 
Fearijtg dying. Yielding to death through fear. 

186. Of. About, concerning. See Gr. 174. 
1-90. On the metaphor, see Gr. 529(4), 

198. By small and small. For the construction, see Gi". 5. 

203. Upon his factio7i. Upon his side. This is the folio reading ; the 
quartos have " his party," which means the same. 

204. Beshrew. A mild form of imprecation. Cf Sonn. 133. I : " Be- 
shrew that heart that makes my heart to groan ;" M. of V. iii. 2. 14 : 
" Beshrew your eyes," etc. See on shrewd, 59 above. 

On which, see Gr. 268 ; and on forth, Gr. 156. Forth of = out of, away 
from. Cf extract from Holinshed, p. 194, first line. 

209. Flint Castle. In North Wales, about twelve miles from Chester. 
It is still standing, though in a very ruinous condition. According to 
Leland, it was built by Edward I. In the civil wars of Charles I. it was 
garrisoned by the royal party, but was besieged and taken by the parlia- 
mentary forces in 1643. 

211. That power, etc. Discharge the soldiers that I have. 

212. To ear. To plough, or till. Cf V. and A. dedication, 5 : "never 



ACT III. SCENE III. 193 

after ear so barren a land ;" A. W. i. 3. 47 : " He that ears my land spares 
my team ;" A. and C. i. 4. 49 : 

" Make the sea serve them which they ear and wound 
With keels of every kind." 

See also Dent. xxi. 4 ; Isa. xxx. 24, etc. 

That hath, etc. That promises to be productive. Delius would 
change hath to have, making them the antecedent oithat ; but this seems 
unnecessary. The meaning seems to be : Let them go to till the land, 
from which they may expect a better return than from serving a king 
whose cause is hopeless. 

Scene III. — The following is Holinshed's account of the events in 
this scene : 

'* King Richard being thus come unto the Castle of Flint, and the 
Duke of Hereford being still advertised from hour to hour by posts how 
the Earl of Northumberland sped, the morrow following he came thither, 
and mustered his army before the King's presence, which undoubtedly 
made a passing fair show, being very well ordered by the Lord Henry 
Percy, that was appointed general, or rather, as we may call him, master 
of the camp, under the Duke, of the whole army. 

" There were come already to the castle, before the approaching of 
the main army, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Duke of Aumerle, 
the Earl of Worcester, and divers others. The Archbishop entered first, 
and then followed the others, coming into the first ward. 

" The King, that was walking aloft on the brays of the walls to behold 
the coming of the Duke afar off, might see that the Archbishop and the 
others were come, and, as he took it, to talk with him : whereupon he 
forthwith came down unto them, and beholding that they did their due 
reverence to him on their knees, he took them up, and drawing the Arch- 
bishop aside from the residue, talked with him a good while, and, as it 
was reported, the Archbishop willed him to be of good comfort, for he 
should be assured not to have any hurt as touching his person ; but he 
prophesied not as a prelate, but as a Pilate, as by the sequel it well ap- 
peared. 

" After that the Archbishop had now here at Flint communed with the 
King, he departed, and taking his horse again, rode back to meet the 
Duke, who began at that present to approach the castle, and compassed 
it round about, even down to the sea, with his people arranged in good 
and seemly order at the foot of the mountains ; and then the Earl of 
Northumberland, passing forth of the castle to the Duke, talked with 
him awhile in the sight of the King, being again got up to the walls to 
take a better view of the army, being now advanced within two bow- 
shots of the castle, to the small rejoicing, ye may be sure, of the sorrow- 
ful King. 

" The Earl of Northumberland, returning to the' castle, appointed to 
the King to be set to dinner (for he was fasting till then), and after he 
had dined the Duke came down to the castle himself, and entered the 
same all armed, his bassinet only excepted, and being within the first 

N 



194 



NOTES. 



gate, he stayed there till the King came forth of the inner part of the 
castle unto him. 

" The King, accompanied with the Bishop of Carlisle, the Earl of Sal- 
isbury, and Sir Stephen Scrope, knight, who bare the sword before him, 
and a few other, came forth into the utter ward, and sat down in a place 
prepared for him. Forthwith as the Duke got sight of the King, he 
showed a reverent duty, as became him, in bowing his knee ; and com- 
ing forward, did so likewise the second and third time, till the King took 
him by the hand, and lift him up, saying, 'Dear cousin, ye are welcome.' 
The Duke, humbly thanking him, said, ' My sovereign lord and king, the 
cause of my coming at this present, is (your honour saved) to have again 
restitution of my person, my lands, and heritage, through your favour- 
able licence.' The King hereunto answered, ' Dear cousin, I am ready 
to accomplish your will, so that ye may enjoy all that is yours, without 
exception.' " 

ID. Mistakes. Rowe added "me" to help out the measure; but see 
Gr. 487. 

12. Would you have been, etc. If you should have been, or if you had 
been disposed to be, etc. Cf Gr. 322, 331. On so, see Gr. 281. 

14. Taking so the head. Johnson thought this meant "to take undue 
liberties ;" Douce, " to take away the sovereign's chief title." The latter 
seems the better. 

17. Mistake. Take wrongly or unjustly. There is a play on the word, 
which some editors indicate by printing it " mis-take." 

0''er your head. So in folio; the 1st and 2d quartos have "over our 
heads," the 3d and 4th " over your heads." 

26. Yond. Equivalent to yon or yonder, but not a contraction of the 
latter word, as W., H., and other editors who print it yond'' appear to 
consider it. Here the folio has "yond," the quartos "yon." See Temp. 
p. 121, note on " What thou seest yond." 

2)0. Belike. Probably. Common in S., but now obsolete. 

31. On the short line, see Gr. 512. 

32. Ribs. The C. P. ed. compares K. John, ii. i. 384 : " The flinty 
ribs of this contemptuous city." 

33. Parle. The quartos have "parlee" (parley). See on i. i. 192. 

34. His. Its. See on iii. 2. 109 above ; and for deliver, on iii. 2. 92. 
38. Hither come. Having come hither. 

41. Be freely granted. The subject is the preceding clause, which = my 
recall from banishment and the restoration of my lands. 

52. Tatter'' d. So in folio and later quartos; "tottered" in ist and 2d 
quartos. As Coll. and D. state, this is simply "a variety of spelling." 
Schmidt also defines the word here as " torn, ragged." In K. John, v. 
5. 7, the folio has " our tott'ring colours ;" and in i Hen. IV. iv. 2. 37, 
" a hundred and fiftie totter'd Prodigalls." 

53. Perns'' d. Surveyed, examined. Cf. R. and J. v. 3. 74 : " Let me 
peruse this face ;" C. of E. '1.2. 13 : 

" Till that, I'll view the manners of this town, 
Peruse the traders, gaze upon the buildings," 



ACT III. SCENE III. 195 

Tennyson {^Princess, ii.) has 

"At those .high words we, conscious of ourselves, 
Perused the matting." 

56. Shock. Here the ist quarto furnishes the correct reading. The 
other early eds. have "smoke," "smoake," or "smoak." 

57. Cheeks of heaven. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 4 : "the welkin's cheek." 

60. No^ on him. That is, not to extinguish him. 

61. King Richard how he looks. See Gr. 414. 

62-67. The early eds. give these lines to Bolingbroke ; Warburton, 
Hanmer, K., Sr., and W., to York ; D., to Percy. Warburton remarks 
that they are " absurdly given to Bolingbroke, who is made to condemn 
his own conduct and disculp the lyng's." Besides, as W. points out, 
" Bolingbroke, as will be seen, by the last twelve lines previous to the 
appearance of Richard, has marched away with his army from the castle, 
to which he afterwards returns and asks Northumberland, * What says 
the king ?' " 

71. Harm. The Coll. MS. has "storm," which D. and Sr. adopt. 

73. Fea7-fid. See on iii. 2. 1 10. 

76. Awful. Full of awe, as fearful ^^full of fear. Cf 2 Hen. IV. iv. i. 
176: "We come within our awful banks again." Hence it comes to 
mean "filled with reverence for all that deserves it, conscientious " 
(Schmidt), as in T. G. of V. iv. i. 46: "Thrust from the 'company of 
awful men." 

81. Profane. Commit sacrilege. 

83. Have torn their souls. Have perjured themselves. The metaphor 
seems to be taken from the act of tearing a legal document. 

89. Thai lift. The antecedent oi that is implied inyour. Gr. 218. 

90. Threat. Threaten. Used only in verse and in the present tense 
(Schmidt). Cf. V. and A. 620 : " Of bristly pikes that ever threat his 
foes ;" Cymb.'w. 2. 127 : " To let an arrogant piece of flesh threat us." 

94. To ope the purple testament. To open and carry into execution the 
blood-stained will. 

96. On the metaphor, see Gr. 529 (5). 

97. The flower of England'' s face. The blooming surface of the land. 
Steevens cites Sidney, Arcadia: "the sweet and beautiful flower of her 
face." 

98. Maid-pale. White or fair as a maiden. Cf i Hen. VI. ii. 4. 47 : 
"this pale and maiden blossom." 

102. Civil and uncivil. Civil in one sense (as in " civil war "), not 
civil in another. Or uncivil may mean rude, as in T. G. of V. v, 4. 17 : 
" uncivil outrages." 

105. Honourable tomb. That of Edward III. in Westminster Abbey. 

109. Holinshed states that John of Gaunt was buried in St. Paul's. 

1 14. Etifranchisement. " Restoration to his full rights as a free Eng- 
lishman" (C. P. ed.). 

115. Party. Part. Cf. Lear, ii. 1. 2S: 

" have you nothing said 
Upon his party 'gainst the Duke of Albany?" 



196 



NOTES, 



116. Commends. Gives up, delivers over. Cf. Lear, ii. 4. 28 : "I did 
commend your highness' letters to them;" Macd. i. 7. 11 : "Commends 
the ingredients of our poison'd chalice To our own lips." 

117. BarU'd. Armoured; used only of horses. Ci.Rick.III.'i.i.io: 
" mounting barbed steeds." Not to be confounded vi^ith barb, a. Barbary 
hor^e. See Wb. under barb and barded. 

121. Returns. Returns answer. Cf. Hen. V. iii. 3. 46 : 

" The Dauphin, whom of succours we entreated, 
Returns us that his powers are not yet ready." 

See also i. 3. 122 above. 

126. Commends. See on iii. i. 38. Gr. 451. 

128. Poorly. " Without spirit, dejectedly " (Schmidt). Cf. Macb. ii. 
2. 71 : "Be not lost So poorly in your thoughts." 

136. Words of sooth. Words of concession, or of flattery. Cf. Per. i. 
2.44: 

" When Signior Sooth here does proclaim a peace. 
He flatters you, makes war upon your life." 

So soothers-=9i2i\.\.txex's, in i Hen. IV. iv. i. 7 : 

" I cannot flatter ; I do defy 
The tongues of soothers." 

On sooth=\x^^, see Mer. p. 127. 

137. Lesser. See on ii. i. 95. 

146. C God''s name. See Gr. 24, 169. The folio has o\ the quartos a. 
154. Obscure. Accent on first syllable, as usually in S. when the word 
is an adjective. See Gr. 492. 

156. Common trade. Common passage. Lord Surrey, in his transla- 
tion of Virgil's ^neid, book ii., translates " pervius usus " by the same 
expression : 

"A postern with a blind wicket there was, 
A common trade, to pass through Priam's house." 

According to Wedgwood, trade is derived from tread, meaning literally 
" a trodden way, a beaten path or course." Wb., on the other hand, 
makes it from the Latin tractare, through the French traiter. .However 
that may be, there is an obsolete trade, as Wb. states, meaning tread. 
Cf. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 6, 39 : 

"As Shepheardes curre, that in darke eveninges shade 
Hath tracted forth some salvage beastes trade." 

162. Lodge. Throw down, lay. The word is still used by farmers in 
this sense. Cf. Macb. iv. i. 55 : " Though bladed corn be lodg'd." 
164. Wantons. Triflers. 

168. There lies. See on iii. 2. 141. Gr. 335. 

169. On the omission of the relative, see Gr. 244, The sentence forms 
the epitaph that Richard proposes for the graves. 

175. Ay: Always spelled " I " in the early eds. There is a play upon 
You and ay, not upon leg and ay (eye), as some commentators make it. 
In R. and J. (iii. 2. 45), however, there is a play on ay and eye. See also 
iv. I. 201 below. 



ACT III. SCENE IV. 197 

176. Base court. The outer court of the castle, which was usually on 
a lower level than the inner court ; the French basse cotir. 

178. Glistering. Glisten is not used by S. See Mer. p. 145. 

179. Wanting the jnajiage of . Unable to control. Manage \^ &'s,^t€\2i\.- 
ly used of horses. See Mer. p. 153. 

185. Fondly. Foolishly. See Mer, pp. 146, 152, and cf. iv. i. 72 be- 
low. On makes, see Gr. 336. Cf. V. and A. 988 : "Despair and hope 
makes thee ridiculous." 

191. To make. See Gr. 356. 

192. Me rather had. See Gr. 230. 

195. Thus high. Here some insert the explanatory stage direction, 
" touching his own head.''"' 

198. So far be mine. That is, may they so far be mine. 

202. Uncle. Addressed to York. 

203. Watit their remedies. Are without their remedies, do not avail. 

204. Bolingbroke and Richard were both born in 1366, and were now 
thirty-three years old. 

208. Set on. Lead forward, set out. Cf. y. C. i. 2. 14 and v. 2. 3. 

Scene IV. — 4. Rubs. In bowling the word denoted any impediment 
that might divert the ball from its course. QLHen. V. ii. 2. 188 : " But 
every rub is smoothed on our way " (see also v. 2. 33) ; Cor. iii. i. 60 : 

" nor has Coriolanus 
Deserv'd this so dishonour' d rub, laid falsely 
I' the plain way of his merit." 

II. Of sorrow or of joy? The early eds. read "or of griefe?" St. 
follows Capell, reading " Of joy or grief?" 

14. Remember. Remind. Cf. i. 3. 269 above. 

15. Altogether had. Altogether possessed ; wholly occupying my 
mind. 

18. Complain. Complain of, bewail. Gr. 291. 

20. On the use oi shouldst and wouldst here, cf. Gr. 322 and 326. 

22. And I could sing, etc. Pope changed sing to weep, which D. adopts 
and Sr. approves. W. explains it thus as it stands : " The queen says 
that, if weeping would do her any good, she has shed tears enough her- 
self to be able to sing; — the emphasis being, 'And I could sing^ etc." 
The Camb. ed. paraphrases it as follows : *' And I could even sing for 
joy if my troubles were only such as weeping could alleviate, and then I 
would not ask you to weep for me." 

26. My wretchedness. " I will stake my great wretchedness against 
the merest trifle" (C. P. ed.). 

28. Against a change. In anticipation of a change. Gr. 142. 

Woe is forerun with woe. That is, by woe ; ** sadness is the harbinger 
or precursor of disaster." Gr. 193. 

29. Apricocks. Apricots; the old spelling. Qi. M. N. D. iii. i. 169: 
" Feed him with apricocks and dewberries." 

32. Suppdrtance. Support. Used by S. only here and in T. N. iii. 4. 
329 : " the supportance of his vow." 
34. Too fast-growing. See Gr. 434. 



198 NOTES. 

38. Noisome. Noxious. Cf. /'j. xci. 3 : "the noisome pestilence." 

40. Pale. Enclosure. Cf. i Hen. VI. iv. 2. 45 : " How are we park'd 
and bounded in a pale." 

46. Knots. Flower-beds laid out in fanciful shapes. Cf. Milton, P. Z. 
iv. 242 : "In beds and curious knots." 

51. In eating him. While depriving him of nourishment. The allu- 
sion is to the farming of the. land to the Earl of Wiltshire, who "seemed 
to hold him up" by supplying him with money, though really on usuri- 
ous terms. 

56. Dress' d. Tilled; as in 73 below. Cf. Gen. ii. 15. 

57. We. Wanting in the early eds. ; inserted by Capell. On the 
omission of the article in at time of year, see Gr. 89. 

59. In sap. The reading of ist quarto ; the other early eds. have 
"with sap." 

60. It may refer either to the "bark" or to the "fruit-trees" taken 
distributively. 

63. On the measure, see Gr. 506. The 2d folio has " All superfluous," 
which D. adopts. W. ^wggtsXs, \)azX superfluous is accented on the pe- 
nult. 

66. The folio reading; the quartos have "waste of." Pope changed 
hath to have ; but see Gr. 334. 

67. On the use oi shall, see Gr. 315. Pope inserted then, which is in 
none of the early eds. 

69. ' Tis doubt. 'T is feared or suspected. The folio has " doubted." 
Cf. Gr. 342, under which this may possibly come. We have " 't is doubt" 
in another sense in i. 4. 20. 

72. Press'' d to death. An allusion to the old custom of putting a per- 
son to death by piling weights upon the chest. Cf. Much Ado, iii. i. 76 : 
" Press me to death with wit ;" M.forM. v. i. 528 : " pressing to death." 
The punishment was known as peine forte et dure, and was inflicted on 
those who when arraigned refused to plead. 

74. On the measure, see Gr. 498. Pope omitted harsh rude. 

75. Suggested. Prompted, tempted. See on i. i. loi. Cf. Hen. VIII. 
i. I. 164. 

76. Cursed man. Q,i.Gen.\\\. 17-19. 

78. Thou little better thing than earth. On the arrangement, see Gr. 
419a. 

79. Divine. Prophesy. Cf..^. and C. ii. 6. 124 : " If I were bound to 
divine of this unity, I would not prophesy so." 

80. By this ill-tidings. On by, see Gr. 145. Pope changed this to these; 
but see on ii. i. 272. 

2>2,. He. See Gr. 243. Hold = gY!Lsp. 

86. The C. P. ed. cites M. of V. iii. 2. 91 : " Making them lightest that 
wear most of it." 

89. Odds. Used by S. both as singular and plural, like tidings and 
7iews. Ci.M.for M. iii. i. 41 : "these odds ;" A. and C. iv. 15. 66 : "the 
odds is gone," etc. 

100. This news. The folio reading ; the quartos have " these news." 
As just stated, S. uses both forms. 



ACT IV. SCENE I. 



199 



loi. Pray God. The folio substitutes " I would." 
102. So. See Gr. 133. 

104. Fall. Let fall. All the early eds. except ist quarto have drop. 
S. often uses fall transitively. See Gr. 291 and our ed. of y. C. p. 169, 
note on They fall their crests. 

105. Rue. "The plant Ruta graveolens, called also herb of grace, and 
used on account of its name as a symbol of sorry remembrance'' 
(Schmidt). This is the most probable of the various explanations of 
herb of grace. Ci. Ham. iv. 5. 181 : ''There's rue for you; and here^ 
some for me : we may call it herb-grace o' Sundays." See also W. T. 
iv. 4. 74. 

106. Ruth. Pity. Cf. Sonn. 132. 4 : " Looking with pretty ruth upon 
my pain ;" Milton, Lye. 163 : " Look homeward, angel, now, and melt with 
ruth;" Tennyson, Enid: " Had ruth again on Enid." 




Scene I. — Holinshed, after describing Bagot's bill of accusation 
against Aumerle, continues : , j , j 1. 

** There was also contained in the said bill, that Bagot had heard the 
Duke of Aumerle say that he had liefer than twenty thousand pounds 
that the Duke of Hereford was dead, not for any fear he had of him, but 
for the trouble and mischief that he was like to procure within the realm. 

" After that the bill had been read and heard, the Duke of Aumerle 
rose up and said, that as touching the points contained in the bill con- 
cerning him, they were utterly false and untrue, which he would prove 
with his body, in what manner soever it should be thought requisite. 

" On the Saturday next ensuing, the Lord Fitzwater herewith rose up 
and said to the King that when the Duke of Aumerle excuseth himself 
of the Duke of Gloucester's death, I say (quoth he) that he was the very 
cause of his death ; and so he appealed him of treason, offering, by 



200 NOTES. 

throwing down his hood as a gage, to prove it with his body. There 
were twenty other lords also that threw down their hoods, as pledges to 
prove the like matter against the Duke of Aumerle. 

" The Duke of Aumerle threw down his hood, to try it against the 
Lord Fitzwater, as against him that lied falsely in that he charged him 
with by that his appeal. These gages were delivered to the Constable 
and Marshal of England, and the parties put under arrest. 

" The Duke of Surrey stood up also against the Lord Fitzwater, 
avouching that where he had said that the appellants were cause of the 
Duke of Gloucester's death it was false; for they were constrained to 
sue the same appeal, in like manner as the said Lord Fitzwater was 
compelled to give judgment against the Duke of Gloucester and the 
Earl of Arundel, so that the suing of the appeal was done by coercion ; 
and if he said contrary he lied, and therewith he threw down his hood. 

" The Lord Fitzwater answered hereunto, that he was liot present 
in the Parliament House when judgment was given against him; and 
all the lords bare witness thereof. Moreover, where it was alleged that 
the Duke of Aumerle should send two of his servants unto Calais to 
murder the Duke of Gloucester, the said Duke of Aumerle said that if 
the Duke of Norfolk affirmed it he lied, falsely, and that he would prove 
with his body, throwing down another hood which he had borrowed. 
The same was likewise delivered to the Constable and Marshal of Eng- 
land, and the King licensed the Duke of Norfolk to return, that he might 
arraign his appeal." 

The speech of the Bishop of Carlisle, when the Commons demanded 
judgment to be passed on King Richard, is narrated by Holinshed as 
follows : 

" Whereupon the Bishop of Carlisle, a man both learned, wise, and 
stout of stomach, boldly showed forth his opinion concerning that de- 
mand, affirming that there was none amongst them worthy or meet to 
give judgment upon so noble a prince as King Richard was, whom they 
had taken for their sovereign and liege lord by the space of twenty-two 
years and more. 'And I assure you (said he) there is not so rank a 
traitor, nor so errant a thief, nor yet so cruel a murderer apprehended or 
detained in prison for his offence, but he shall be brought before the 
justice to hear his judgment ; and ye will proceed to the judgment of an 
anointed king, hearing neither his answer nor excuse. And I say that 
the Duke of Lancaster, whom ye call King, hath more trespassed to 
King Richard and his realm than King Richard hath done either to him 
or to us ; for it is manifest and well known that the Duke was banished 
the realm by King Richard and his council, and by the judgment of his 
• own father, for the space of ten years, for what cause ye know ; and yet, 
without license of King Richard, he is returned again into the realm, and, 
that is worse, hath taken upon him the name, title, and pre-eminence of 
King. And therefore I say that you have done manifest wrong to pro- 
ceed in anything against King Richard, without calling him openly to his 
answer and defence.' As soon as the Bishop had ended this tale, he was 
attached by the Earl Marshal, and committed to ward in the Abbey of 
St. Albans." 



ACT IV. SCENE I. 201 

Westminster Hall, where this scene is laid, was built by William Rufus, 
but was repaired by Richard II., who raised the walls, altered the win- 
dows, and added the carved timber roof, which is to this day a marvel 
of construction. Here in the olden time were held the royal revels at 
Christmas, and here for centuries the great state trials took place, from 
that of Sir William Wallace to that of Warren Hastings. Here Crom- 
well was inaugurated Protector, and Charles I. was condemned to die. 
No room in England has been the scene of so many events involving 
the destinies of the nation. 

Richard finished the work of reconstruction in 1399, and the first meet- 
ing of Parliament in the new building was for the purpose of deposing 
him. 

4. Wrought it with the king. Who persuaded the king to it. 

5. Timeless. Untimely. Cf. Rich. III. i. 2. 117 : " the timeless deaths. 
Of these Plantagenets ;" T. G. of V. iii. i. 21 : "your timeless grave." 

10. Dead time. "Dark and dreary time " (C. P. ed.) ; or, as Schmidt 
explains it, " bringing death, deadly." In T. A. ii. 3. 99, " dead time" " 
means a time "still as death." Cf. Rich. III. v. 3. 180 ; Ham. i. i. 65 ; 
Id. i. 2. 198. Z)mar= deadly in M. N. D. iii. 2. 57 ; W. T. iv. 4. 445 ; K. 
John, V. 7. 65, etc. 

11. Is not my arm of length ? Is not my arm long? The C. P. ed. 
cites Ovid, Epist. xvi. 166 : " An nescis longas regibus esse manus ?" 

12. Restful. Quiet, peaceful. Cf. Sonn. 66. i : "Tir'd with all these, 
for restful death I cry." Some explain it here as = " stationary," making 
the passage mean, Can I reach so far without moving from the English 
court? • 

15. On the measure, see Gr. 466. 

17. Than Bolingbroke''s return. Than to have him return. On the 
ellipsis, see Gr. 390. England is metrically a trisyllable here. Gr. 477. 
19. On the measure, see Gr. 500. 

21. My fair stars. The dignity assigned me by the propitious stars at 
my birth. Cf. Rich. III. iii. 7. 172 : " The right and fortune of his happy 
stars." 

22. For the omission oias, see Gr. 281. 

24. With the attainder, etc. He means to say that unless he vindicated 
his honour by wager of battle, he would be as much disgraced as if con- 
victed of felony or treason. 

25. The manual seal of death. His death-warrant j an allusion to the 
sign-manual of a sovereign. 

28. Heart-blood. Cf. i. i. 172, and Gr. 22. On the adverbial use oiall, 
see Gr. 28. 

29. Cf. I Hen. IV. v. 2. 94 : " A sword whose temper I intend to 
stain," etc. 

33. If that. See Gr. 287. The quartos have " sympathy ;" the ist 
folio, "sympathize;" the other folios, "sympathies." Stand on sympa- 
thies (or sympathy) —insist on equality of rank (in your antagonist). Cf. 
Hen. V. V. 2. 94 : " When articles too nicely urg'd he stood upon ;" 0th. 
ii. I. 232 : " sympathy in years," etc. 



202 NOTES. 

38. The pointing of the folio. The quartos put the comma after it, 
making twenty times modify liest. 

40. The rapier was a long pointed sword, of Spanish origin. Its in- 
troduction here is an anachronism, as it was not known in England in 
the time of Richard. But, as the C. P. ed. remarks, S. arms Demetrius 
in T. A. (ii. i. 54 and iv. 2. 85) with a rapier. 

49. And if. 'See Gr. 105. The Camb. ed. adopts Capell's "An if." 

52-59. These lines were omitted in the folio ; perhaps, as W. suggests, 
" because they were considered superfluous, and because the expression, 
I task the earth, in the quarto of 1597, or I take the earth, in that of 1598 
and its. successors, was found inexplicable," Capell read "I task thee 
to the like," which D. approves ; Johnson conjectured " I take thy oath;" 
Steevens, " I task thy heart ;" S. Walker, " I take oath." St. makes / 
task the earth=^^l challenge the whole world." The C. P. ed, explains 
it, " I lay on the earth the task of bearing the like gage ;" and Hunter, 
" I engage the earth to bear the like trial of battle." 

53. With full as many lies. By giving you the lie as many times. 

55. Sim to Sim. Capell's emendation of the "sinne to sinne" of the 
quartos. Cf. Cymb. iii. 2. 70 : " One score 'twixt sun and sun." 

56. Engage it. Throw down your gage in return. Cf. 71 below. 

57. Who sets me else? " Who else sets a match with me?" See Gr. 
220. The expression was used in playing dice. Cf. i Hen. IV. iv. i. 46 ; 

" Were it good 
To set the exact wealth of all our states 
All at one cast?" 
Rich. III. V. 4. 9 : 

" Slave, I have set my life upon a cast, . 
And I wUl stand the hazard of the dice." 

Lear, i. 4. 136 : " Set less than thou throwest," etc. 

58. Cf. Rich. III. V. 3. 347 : " A thousand hearts are great within my 
bosom" (C. P. ed.). 

62. My lord. These words are not in the quartos. They seem to 
have been added in the folio " as a proper mark of respect from Fitz- 
water to a prince of the blood royal, and one much his senior " (W.). 

In presence. In the presence-chamber. Gr. 90. 

65. Dishonourable boy. Spoken in contempt, as Fitzwater was now 
thirty-one years old. 

72. Fondly. Foolishly. See on iii. 3. 185. 

74. In a wilderness. " Where no help can be had by me against him " 
(Johnson). Cf Macb. iii. 4. 104 : " And dare me to the desert with thy 
sword." Boswell cites B. and F., Love's Progress: 

" Maintain thy treason with thy sword? with what 
Contempt I hear it ! In a wilderness 
I durst encounter it." 

76. My bond of faith. Probably he here throws down another gage. 

77. To tie thee. To bind thee, obligate thee. Cf. i. i. 63. 

78. This new world. The new era under Bolingbroke. 

84. Here do I throtv down this. According to Holinshed, he threw ' 
down a hood that he had borrowed. 



ACT IV, SCENE I. 203 

85. RepeaVd. Recalled from exile. Cf. ii. 2. 49. 
89. Signiories. Cf. iii. i. 22. On the measure, see Gr. 495. Pope 
omitted '*land and." 

93. In glorious Christian field. For the omission of article, see Gr. 82. 

94. Streaming. For the transitive use, see Gr. 290. Cf. J. C. iii. i. 201 : 
" Weeping as fast as they strearn forth thy blood." 

96. ToiVd. Wearied. Gr. 290. On the reflexive retired himself, see 
Gr. 296. Cf Cor. i. 3. 30. 

97. At Venice. There Norfolk is said to have died of grief in 1400. 
104. Cf Luke, xvi. 22 ; and Rich. III. iv. 3. 38 : " The sons of Edward 

sleep in Abraham's bosom." 

On the measure, see Gr. 485. Capell inserted " My " before " lords." 
1 12. Of that name the fourth. So in folio. The quartos have " fourth 

of that name," in ^Mxoh fourth may be reckoned a dissyllable. Gr. 484. 

115. Worst in this royal presence, etc. " That is, I may be the mean- 
est and most unfit to speak " (Schmidt). The C. P. ed. makes worst an 
adverb : " Though I may speak the worst, or with the least right to 
speak," etc. 

116. Yet best beseeming, etc. That is, it befits me best, as a spiritual 
peer, to speak the truth. 

W]. Would God. See Gr. 190. 

119. Noblesse. The reading of the ist quarto ; the other early eds. 
have "noblenesse." d.Wv^Yx. noblesse oblige. 

120. Learn. Teach. Gr. 291. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 365 : 

" The red plague rid you 
For learning me your language !" 

It is used reflexively in R. and J. iv. 2. 17 : "I have learned me to repent 
the sin." 

123. Judg'd. Condemned; as in 128. Cf 2 Hen. VI. ii. 3. 15 : *'the 
law, thou seest, hath judg'd thee." On but, see Gr. 120. 

124. Apparent. Manifest. Cf. J. C. ii. i. 198 : " these apparent prod- 
igies ;" and see note in our ed., p. 147. 

128. Subject. An adjective here. 

i2g. And. See Gr. 95. For/i7r&'^ the quartos have " forfend," which 
S. uses in several other places. Cf 0th. v. 2. 32, 186, etc. . 

130. Climate. Region. Cf f. C. i. 3. 32 : 

" For I believe they are portentous things 
Unto the climate that they point upon." 

Cf Bacon, Adv. of L. i. 6. 10 : ''the southern stars were in that climate 
unseen." The word is a verb in W. T. v. i. 70 : "whilst you Do climate 
here." 

131. Obscene. Foul, abominable. Cf Z. Z. Z. i. i. 244 : " that obscene 
and most preposterous event." 

139. Go sleep. See Gr. 349. 

141. ''Kin refers to -blood-relationship ; kind to our common human 
nature." Cf Ham. i. 2. 65 : " A little more than kin, and less than 
kind" (C. Red.). 

144. See Matt, xxvii. 33. 



204 



NOTES. 



145. Rear. The folio reading; the quartos have "raise." There is 
an allusion to Matt. xii. 25. 

146, Woefullest division. A prophecy of the "Wars of the Roses. 

148. Prevent^ resist it. The early eds. have " Prevent it." Pope 
omitted it. See Gr. 460. 

149. Lest children's children. The early eds. have " Lest child, child's 
children." Pope made the change, and has been followed by D., W., 
and other editors. Coll., K,, St., and H. retain the old reading. 

151. Of capital treason. See Gr. 177, and cf. i.. i. 27. 

154 The "new additions" (see Introduction, p. 10) begin here, and 
continue to line 318 inclusive. 

157. His conduct. His escort. Cf. R. and J. v. 3. 116 : " Come, bitter 
conduct, come, unsavoury guide !" 

160. Beholding. Equivalent to "beholden," which Pope substituted. 
Cf M. of V. i. 3. 106 : " Well, Shylock, shall we be beholding to you ?" 
and see Mer. p. 135. 

161. And little looked for. The 3d and 4th quartos have "looke," and 
the Coll. MvS. "look for little." Some understand it to mean, and this 
(the fact that we are little beholding to your love) was little looked for. 

163. Shook. See Gr. 343. S. sometimes uses shaked, as in T. and C. 
i. 3. loi : "when degree is shaked." 

165. Knee. So the folio. The quartos have "limbs" or "limbes." 

168. Favours. Faces. Cf. y. C i. 2. 91 : " your outward favour ;" and 
see note in our ed., p. 131. 

169. Sometime. Once, formerly. Cf. C^n v. i. 2 : " sometime his gen- 
eral." See on sometimes, i. 2. 54. 

170. Cf yJ/fl^^. xxvi. 49. 

171. On the measure, see Gr. 501. 
178. Tired is a dissyllable. Gr. 480. 

181. Seize the crown. Coll., Sr., and others cohsider this a stage di- 
rection {seizes the crown), which has accidentally got into the text. 

182. Thine. So in folio ; " yours " in 3d and 4th quartos. 

184. Owes. Owns, has. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 454 : " thou dost here usurp 
The name thou owest not." It is also used in the modern sense, as in 
i. 3. 180 above. Both meanings occur in K. John, ii. i. 248 : 

" Be pleased then 
To pay that duty which you truly owe 
To him that owes it." 

194 195- There is a play on the two senses of care, anxiety and sor- 
row : My sorrow is in having to give up the anxieties of a king, a burden 
which you have to assume. 

198. Tend. Attend. Cf Temp. i. 2. 47: "women that tended me." 
Sometimes it is = be attentive, as in Temp. i. i. 8 : " tend to the master's 
whistle." It is also used with on ox upon, as in Macb. i. v. 42 : "Come 
you spirits. That tend on mortal thoughts ;" Lear, ii. I. 97 : " the riotous 
knights, That tend upon my father." 

200. Ay is printed "I" in the old editions; hence the play on the 
word. Cf iii. 3. 175. 



ACT IV. SCENE I. 



205 



201. No no. " Since I must be nothing, no I is no no."*"* The second 
no is a noun. 

204. Unwieldy, The Camb. ed. prints "unwieldly" (see Gr. 447), and 
does not mention the folio reading " vnwieldie." 

206. Balm. See on iii. 2. 55. 

209. Duteous oaths. The folio reading. The 3d and 4th quartos have 
"duties rites." Coll., St., and others read "duties, rites;" the Camb. 
ed. " duty's rites." "Duteous rites" and " duties, rights" have also been 
suggested. Perhaps " duty's rites " (" the ceremonious observances which 
subjects are bound to render to their sovereign," as the C. P. ed. explains 
it) is to be preferred to " duteous oaths," as the latter are mentioned in 214. 

211. Revenue. Accented on second syllable, as in Temp.'i. 1. ()%'. 
"Not only with what my revenue yielded." See Temp. p. 114, and cf. 
Gr. 490. In i. 4. 46 and ii. i. 161, 226 above, the accent is on the first 
syllable. 

214. That swear. That is, of those that swear; or, perhaps, that are 
sworn. The folio has " are made " instead of that swear. 

216. And thou. See Gr. 216. 

220. Sunshme days. Cf. 3 Hen. VI. ii. I. 187: "a sunshine day;" 
Milton, VAll. 98 : " On a sunshine holiday." 

224. State and profit. " Constitution and prosperity " (Hunter). "Set- 
tled order and material progress" (C. P. ed.). 

228. Weav'd up. See on 163 above. 

229. Record. S. accents the noun on either syllable, as suits the 
measure. Cf. i. i. 30. 

231. Read a lecture of them. Read them aloud. Cf A. Y. L. iii. 2. 
365 : "I have heard him read many lectures against it." 

If thotc wouldst. We should say " If thou shouldst,''^ and in the next 
line "There wouldst thou." Cf iii. 4. 20, and see Gr. 322, 326, 331 for 
should and would in conditional sentences. 

236. Look upon me. So in folio. The quartos omit me. Cf. 3 Hen. 
VI. ii. 3. 27 : 

" Why stand we like soft-hearted women here 
And look upon, as if," etc. 

and Ham. i. 2. 179 : " Indeed, my lord, it follow'd hard upon." Gr. 192. 

237. Whilst that. See Gr. 287. 

238. See Matt, xxvii. 24, 26. 

240. Sour. Used metaphorically very much as bitter is. Cf L. L. L. 
i. I. 315 : "the sour cup of prosperity " (Costard's speech) ; Sonn. 57. 7 : 
" Nor think the bitterness of absence sour,'''' etc. So we find " sour woe," 
" sour adversity," "sour affliction," " sour misfortune," and in the present 
play (iv. I. 241) "sour, cross" and (v. 6. 20) "sour melancholy." 

245. Sort. Company. Cf M A^. Z). iii. 2, 13 : " The shallowest thick- 
skin of that barren sort;" 2 Hen. VI. ii. I. 167 : "a sort of naughty per- 
sons ;" Id. iii. 2. 277 : " Sent from a sort of tinkers to the king." 

249. Pompous. Used in its original sense of stately, magnificent. Cf 
A. Y. L. V. 4. 188 : "the pompous court ;" Per. iii. prol. 4 : " Of this most 
pompous marriage-feast." 



2o6 NOTES. 

253. Haught. Haughty. Cf. Rich. III. ii. 3. 28 : " the queen's sons 
and brothers haught and proud," 

254. Nor no. The folio has "No, nor." See Gr. 406. 

255. That name was. That name which was. Gr. 244. 

256. Bzit '/ is usurped. " How Richard's name could be usurped is 
not clear : perhaps he meant that in surrendering his crown he had 
given up everything that belonged to him by right of birth, both name 
and position." 

263. And if. Theo. changed this to " An if," and Pope to '* Ah, if." 
See Gr. 103. 

Word. The quartos have "name." Cf. i. 3. 231. 
266. His. Its. Cf. i. I. 194, etc. Gr. 228. 

268. While. See on i. 3. 122. 

269. Torments. Gr. 340. Rowe substituted " torment'st," which the 
modern eds. generally adopt. 

274. Writ. See on shook, 163 above. Cf. ii. i. 14. In Lear, i. 2. 93, 
we have wrote for written. 

280. Beguile. Deceive. Cf Ham. i. 3. 131 : "the better to beguile ;" 
Sonn. 3. 4 : " Thou dost beguile the world," etc. 

282. Did keep ten thousaiid men. Malone says : " Shakespeare is here 
not quite accurate. Our chronicles only say : ' To his household came 
every day to meat ten thousand men.'" 

291. The shadow of your sorrow, etc. The act by which you express 
your sorrow has destroyed the reflected image of your face. 

295. Lament. Capell's emendation for the "laments" of the early 
eds. 

298. The quartos omit There lies the substance ; also For thy great 
botmty in next line, and Shall I obtain it? in 303. 

307. To. See Gr. 189. Cf. Temp. ii. i. 75 and iii. 2. 54. See also 
Matt. iii. 9 ; Luke, iii. 8, etc. 

314. Sights. Pope changed this to "sight;" but in Elizabethan Eng- 
lish such use of the plural was common. Ci.Macb. iii. i. 21 : "whose 
loves ;" T. G. of V. i. 3. 48 : 

"O that our fathers would applaud our loves, 
To seal our happiness with their consents." 

See also Rich. III. iv. i. 25 ; T. of A. i. i. 255 ; Per. i. i. 74 ; Hen. VIII. 
iii. I. 68 ; and v. 2. 38 below. 

315. Convey. Often = steal. Cf M. W. i. 3. 32, where after Nym has 
used the word steal. Pistol says " Convey the wise it call." Cf. Cymb. i. 
I. 63 and 3 Hen. VI. iv. 6. 81. 

317. On Wednesday, etc. The first two quartos read — 

" Let it be so : and lo ! on Wednesday next 
We solemnly proclaim our coronation ; 
Lords, be ready all." 

The change in the text was rendered necessary by the new addition of 
the " Parliament scene." 

325. My lord. These words are found only in the first two <|uartos. 
Gr. 512. 



ACT V. SCENE I. 

326. Take the sacrament. Take an oath. Cf. v. 2. 97 below. 

327. Pope and D. omit also. See Gr. 497. 

333. A plot shall show. That is, which shall show. Gr. 244. 



207 




Scene I.— 2. Julius Ccesar's ill-erected tower. That is, erected under 
evil auspices, or for evil purposes. Cf. Rich. III. iii. i. 68 fol. Tradi- 
tion ascribed the first building of the Tower to Caesar. Hence Gray in 
The Bard apostrophises it thus : 

"Ye towers of Julius! London's lasting shame!" 

11. Thou model, etc. '' TYiOxx picture of greatness" (Johnson). "Thou 
ruined majesty that resemblest the desolated waste where Troy once 
stood" (Malone). 

12. Thou map of honour. " The mere outline, which is all that is left" 
(C. P. ed.). The expression is used in a somewhat different sense in 2 
Hen. VI. iii. I. 203 : " In thy face I see The map of honour ;" that is, 
the outward image of the honour within. 

13. Inn. A house of entertainment of the better sort, as opposed to 
alehouse in line 15. Cf. B. and F., Lover's Progress^ v. 3 : 

" She's a book 
To be with care perus'd; and 't is my wonder 
If such misshapen guests as lust and_ murder 
At any price should ever find a lodging 
In such a beauteous inn." 

W. quotes Optick Glasse of Humours (1607) : 

" His comely body is a beauteous Inne 
Built fairely to the owner's princely minde, _ 
Where wandring virtues lodge, oft lodg'd with sin; 
Such pilgrims kindest entertainement finde. 
An Inne said I? O no, that name's unfit, 
Sith they stay not a night, but dwell in it." 



14. Hardfavoiir'd. Ill-looking, ugly. Cf. V. and A. 133 
hard-favour'd, foul, or wrinkled-old ;" T. G. of V. ii. i. 53 : 



" Were I 



2o8 NOTES. 

^^ speed. Is she not hard-favoured, boy? 
Valentine. Not so fair, boy, as well-favoured." 

20. Sworn brother. " Adventurers in travel or war sometimes bound 
themselves to share each other's fortunes ; they were \htx\ fratres Jurati, 
sworn brothers." Cf. W. T. iv. 4. 607 : " Ha, ha ! what a fool Honesty is ! 
and Trust, his sworn brother, a very simple gentleman !" A. Y. L. v. 4. 
107 : " and they shook hands, and swore brothers ;" Cor. iii. 2. 102 : " I 
will, sir, flatter my sworn brother, the people." 

23. Cloister thee. Shut thyself up. Cf. R. of L. 1085 : " And therefore 
still in night would cloister'd be." See Gr. 290, 296. 

Religious house. A convent. 

25. Stricken. The reading of the folio; the quartos have "thrown." 
Cf. y. C. ii. I. 192 : " The clock hath stricken three." 

31. To be overpower'' d. At being overpowered. Gr. 356. 

37. Sometime. See on iv. i. 169. Gr. 41. 

42. Long ago betid. That happened long ago. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 31 : 

" No, not so much perdition as a hair 
Betid to any creature in the vessel." 

43. To quit their griefs. To requite their mournful tales. The quartos 
have " quite." Cf. Spenser, F. Q. i. 8, 26 : 

"How shall I quite the paynes ye suffer for my sake?" 

So in R. and J. ii. 4. 204 : " I'll quit thy pains " (" quite " in early eds.) ; 
T. A. i. I. 141 : " To quit the bloody wrongs upon her foes." The word 
was spelled either way. 

44. Tale. The folio has "fall." On of me, see Gr. 225. 

46. For why. Equivalent to " Wherefore ? (Because)."- See Gr. 75. 
Cf. T. G. of V. iii. i. 99 : "For why, the fools are mad if left alone." 

Sympathize. Here used transitively. See Gr. 200. 

47. Moving. Moving the feelings of others. 

48. Fire. A dissyllable. Cf. i. 3. 294. Gr. 480. 

52. Pomfret. That is, Pontefract Castle, at the town of the same name 
in the West Riding of Yorkshire, about twenty-two miles from York. 
Pomfret is the common pronunciation of the name. 

This famous castle, the ruins of which still give some idea of its ancient 
strength and magnificence, was built about 1080 by Hildebert (or Ilbert) 
de Lacy, one of the followers of William the Conqueror. In 13 10 it 
came into the possession of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, who was behead- 
ed near the castle for a. revolt against Edward I., sevei^al lords implicated 
with him being hanged at Pontefract the same day. In 1399 it was the 
prison of Richard II., and here, according to the account that Shakespeare 
follows, he was murdered by Sir Pierce of Exton. In 1483, Earl Rivers, 
Richard Lord Grey, and Sir Thomas Vaughan were executed here, with- 
out any legal trial, by the order of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, after- 
wards Richard III. Shakespeare {Rich. III. iii. 3. 9) makes Rivers ex- 
claim : 

"O Pomfret, Pomfret ! O thou bloody prison. 
Fatal and ominous to noble peers ! 
Within the guilty closure of thy walls 






,Mf 




o 



2IO NOTES. 

Richard the Second here was hack'd to death; 

And, for more slander to thy dismal seat, 

We give thee up our guiltless blood to djrink." 

The castle was four times besieged : in 1536, by Robert Aske, captain- 
general of the Pilgrimage of Grace, to whom it surrendered ; and thrice 
in the time of Charles I. In 1649 it was dismantled by order of Parlia- 
ment. 

The chief remnant of the castle now is a portion of the keep, consist- 
ing of the ruins of two massive round towers connected by walls. In 
one of these walls, which is eighteen feet thick, is a wretched dungeon, 
in which tradition says Richard was confined, but it is more probable 
that he occupied one of the large apartments of the keep. 

53. Order ta^en. Arrangements made. The expression occurs often 
in S. Cf 0th. V. 2. 72 : " Honest lago hath ta'en order for 't ;" Rich. III. 
iv. 2. 53 : "I will take order for her keeping close." 

55. Wherewithal. Cf. Gr. 196. 

61. Helping him. Thou having helped him. 

62. Which. See Gr. 268. 

64. Ne''er so little. See Gr. 52. 

66. Converts. Is converted, changes. See Gr. 293, and cf. Macb. iv. 
3. 229 : " Let grief Convert to anger." 

68. Worthy. Well-merited. Cf. Rich. III. i. 2. 87 : "For doing worthy 
vengeance on thyself." 

69. And there an end. A common phrase in S. Cf. Macb. iii. 4. 80 ; 
T. G. of V. i. 3. 65 ; Hen. V. ii. i. 2, etc. 

70. You must part. That is, depart. Cf. M. of V. ii. 7. 77 : " Thus 
losers part ;" T. of A. iv. 2. 21 : " We must all part Into this sea of air." 
See also Gray, Elegy, i : "The knell of parting day j" Goldsmith, Z>. V. 
171 : "parting life," etc. 

75. For with a kiss V was made. Steevens says : " A kiss appears to 
have been an established circumstance in our ancient nuptial ceremony. 
So in Marston's Insatiate Countess (1613) the Duke, on parting with his 
wife, says to her : ' The kiss thou gavest me in the church, here take.' " 

77. Pines. Makes waste, or "afflicts" (Schmidt). It is=:starve in V. 
and A. 602 : 

" Even as poor birds, deceiv'd with painted grapes, 
Do surfeit by the eye and pine the maw." 

78. Wife. The folio has " Queene." 

80. Hallowmas. In the time of S., All Saints' Day, the ist of Novem- 
ber, was ten days nearer the winter solstice than it is now. The calendar 
was corrected by Gregory XIII. in 1582, but the reform was not adopted 
in England until 1752. 

Shorfst of day. See Gr. 473, and cf Macb. iii. i. 117 : "My near'st 
of life." 

84. The quartos give this line to Richard. 

88. The ist quarto reads, "off than neere be nere the neare;" the folio, 
" off, then neere, be ne're the neere." The line is variously pointed by 
the modern editors, but they agree pretty well in regard to the meaning, 
which appears to be, " Better to be far off than near, and yet never the 



ACT V. SCENE II. 21 1 

nearer." The second near=n&2ixer. See Gr. 478. Malone quotes 
Churchyard, Legend of Shore^s Wife (1578) : " Your time is lost, and 
you are never the near." St. cites Ben Jonson, Tale of a Tub, epilogue : 

"Wherein the poet's fortune is, I fear, 
Still to be early up, but ne'er the near." 

94. Wedding it. For the construction, see Gr. 372. 
96. Mine. That is, my heart, 
loi. To make woe wanton. Cf. iii. 3. 164. 

Fond. See on iii. 3. 185. Even when the word means affectionate, 
it carries with it the sense of foolish, doting. 

Scene II. — Holinshed's account of the conspiracy in the Abbot's 
house at Westminster, and its discovery, is as follows : 

" At length, by the advice of the Earl of Huntington, it was devised 
that they should take upon them a solemn joust, to be enterprised be- 
tween him and twenty on his part, and the Earl of Salisbury and twenty 
with him, at Oxford, to the which triumph King Henry should be de- 
sired ; and when he should be most busily regarding the martial pastime, 
he suddenly should be slain and destroyed, and so by that means King 
Richard, which as yet lived, might be restored to liberty, and to his for- 
mer estate and dignity. 

*' This Earl of Rutland, departing before from Westminster to see his 
father, the Duke of York, as he sat at dinner had his counterpart of the 
indenture of the confederacy in his bosom. The father, espying it, would 
needs see what it was ; and though the son humbly denied to show it, 
the father being more earnest to see it, by force took it out of his bosom, 
and perceiving the contents thereof, in a great rage caused his horses to 
be saddled out of hand . . . and incontinently mounted on horseback, to 
ride towards Windsor to the King, to declare to him the malicious in- 
tent of his son and his accomplices." 

4. Leave. Leave off. Cf V. and A. 715 : " Where did I leave?" 

16. Painted imagery. " Our author probably was thinking of the 

painted cloths that were hung in the streets, in the pageants that were 

exhibited in his own time ; in which the figures sometimes had labels 

issuing from their mouths, containing sentences of gratulation " (Malone). 

22. Rides. The ist quarto has "rode." 

23. "The painting of this description is so lively, and the words so 
moving, that I have scarce read anything comparable to it in any other 
language" (Dryden). We may add that the poet was indebted solely to 
his imagination for the description. Holinshed simply states that Richard 
was first taken to Westminstei-, and the next day "was had to the Tower, 
and there committed to safe custody." He adds no details, except that 
" many evil-disposed persons, assembling themselves together in great 
numbers, intended to have met with him, and to have taken him from 
such as had the conveying of him, that they might have slain him ; but 
the Mayor and Aldermen gathered to them the worshipful commoners 
and grave citizens, by whose policy, and not without much ado, the other 



212 NOTES. 

were revoked from their evil purpose." According to Stow, Richard 
was taken by water from Westminster to the Tower. 

25. Idly. Regardlessly, indifferently. W. prints the word " idlely." 

28. The quartos have "gentle Richard." 

33. Patience. A trisyllable here. See Gr. 479. 

38. Capell changed bound to "bind.;" D., following Lettsom, to "bow." 
For contents, see on iv. i. 315. 

40. Allow. Accept, acknowledge. Ci. Hen. VIII. ii. 4. 4 : "And on 
all sides the authority allow'd." 

46, 47. The spring is the reign of Bolingbroke ; the violets, his earliest 
courtiers. Cf. Milton, Song on May Morning, 3 : 

" The flowery May, who from her green lap throws 
The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose." 

48. On the double negative, see Gr. 406. 

49. Had as lief. Like had rather, used regularly by S. and all the old 
writers. Would as lief and would rather are of comparatively recent 
introduction, like "being built" and sundry other neologisms which 
writers of grammars prefer to good old English idioms that cannot be 
" parsed " so easily. 

Lief'vs, the A. S. leof dear. The comparative liefer or lever, and the 
superlative liefest, are common in the old writers. S. uses the latter in 
2 Hen. VI. iii. i. 164 : "my liefest liege." 

52. Hold those justs, etc. That is, are they really to be held t See ex- 
tract from Holinshed above. 

Triumphs. Tournaments. Cf. v. 3. 14 below. See also i Hen. VI. 

Or one that at a triumph having vow'd 
To try his strength, forsaketh yet the lists 
By reason of his adversary's odds ;" 

Milton, Z'^//. 119: 

" Where throngs of knights and barons bold, 
In weeds of peace, high triumphs hold." 

56. Without. See Gr. 197. The seal was usually attached to a deed 
or bond by a loop of parchment. 

58. Sees. The quartos have " see." Gr. 368.' 

65. Bond. The quartos have " band." See on i. i. 2. 

66. ''Gainst. See on iii. 4. 28. The folio and the later quartos have 
" against the triumphs." We follow the ist quarto. 

75. Oxifor, see Gr. 155. 

79. Appeach. Impeach, inform against. Qi. A. W. i. 3. 197 : 

" Come, come, disclose 
The state of your affection; for your passions 
Have to the full appeach'd;" 

that is, informed against you. 

81. I will not peace. Cf. ii. 3. 87 : " Grace me no grace," etc. 

85. Amazed. Confounded, bewildered. Cf i. 3. 81. 

90. Have we inore sons ? There was a younger son, Richard, the 
" Earl of Cambridge " of Hen. V. 



ACT V. SCENE III. . 213 

Like. Likely; as often. Cf. Temp. iv. i. 237: "you are like to lose 
your hair," etc. 

91. Is not, etc. Is not my period of child-bearing past ? 

98. Interchangeably. Mutually. Cf. T. and C. iii. 2. 62 : " Here's ' In 
witness whereof the parties interchangeably ;' " i Hen. IV. iii. i. 81 ; 
"sealed interchangeably." In i. i. 146, the word=in return. 

99. None. Not one of them. Gr. 53. 
loi. For the measure, see Gr. 512. 

112. Spur, post. The folio has " Spurre post," making /(7j/ an adverb, 
as in A. W. iv. 5. 85 : "comes post." See on i. i. 56. 

Scene III. — Holinshed writes : 

" The Earl of Rutland, seeing in what danger he stood, took his horse 
and rode another way to Windsor, in post, so that he got thither before 
his father ; and when he was alighted at the castle gate, he caused the 
gates to be shut, saying that he must needs deliver the keys to the King. 
When he came before the King's presence, he kneeled down on his 
knees, beseeching him of mercy and forgiveness, and declaring the whole 
matter unto him in order as everything had passed, obtained pardon ; 
and therewith came his father, and, being let in, delivered the indenture 
which he had taken from his son unto the King, who, thereby perceiving 
his son's words to be true, changed his purpose for his going to Oxt 
ford." 

I. Unthrifty son. Afterwards Henry V., at this time only twelve years 
old. His introduction here is one of the anachronisms which, as Schle- 
gel says, Shakespeare committed purposely and most deliberately i^ge- 
fiissentlich und mit grossem Bedacht). 

5. At London. Abbott (Gr. 144) remarks that London was not so 
large as it now is when S. wrote this. 

6. Frequent. See Gr. 293. S. nowhere else uses the verb intransi- 
tively. 

9. The folio transposes "beat" and "rob." Passengers =^2i'S&^x% by; 
as in T. G. of V. iv. i. i : "I see a passenger ;" Id. iv. i. 72 : "silly 
women or poor passengers." S. uses the word in no other sense. 

10. While. Pope's emendation for the " which " of the early eds. 
Some editors retain the latter. St. thinks the passage was meant to end 
at support, and that so dissolute a crew was to be cancelled or to supply 
the place oieven such, they say. The C. P. ed. suggests putting a comma 
after support, making crew in apposition with which. 

Young wanton. So all the early eds. Rowe put a comma after young, 
making wanton an adjective. Cf. Ham. v. 2. 310 : "you make a. wanton 
of me ;" K. John, v. i. 70 : 

" Shall a beardless boy, 
A cocker'd silken wanton, brave our fields?" 

14. Held. That is,, to be held. 

16. He would unto. See Gr. 405. 

17. Commonest. See Gr. 473. Cf. shorfst, v. i. 80. 

18. Favour. Cf. L. L. L. v. 2. 130 : " this favour thou shalt wear j" 



214 



JSrOTES, 



Hen. V. iv. 7. 160 : " wear thou this favour for me, and stick it in thy 
cap." 

21. Sparks. The 2d, 3d, and 4th quartos have "sparkles." Cf. v. 6. 
29 : *' sparks of honour." 

22. Happily. Haply. Cf. M.for M. iv. 2. 98 : " Happily You some- 
thing know;" T. of S. iv. 4. 54: "happily we might be interrupted." 
Perhaps in the present passage it is used in its ordinary sense. 

27. To have. For the infinitive, see Gr. 356. 
34. On. See Gr, 181. 

43. Secure. Careless, too confident. See on iii, 2. 34. 

44. Speak treason. Use language like that of treason ; referring to 
foolhardy. 

48. Us. Used reflexively, as the personal pronouns often are in S. 
Gr. 223, Cf me in 52 just below. 

50. Forbids me show. For the omission of tOy see Gr. 349. 
52. Repent me. See Gr. 296. 

57, Forget to pity him. " Forget your promise to have mercy on him " 
(C, P, ed.). 

58. Cf 2 Hen. VI. iii. i- 343. 

61. Sheer. Pure. S. uses the word only here and in T. of S. induc- 
tion, 2. 25 : " Fourteen pence on the score for sheer ale." There it prob- 
ably means " nothing but ale ;" though Schmidt thinks it may mean 
"unmixed ale," Cf Spenser, F. Q. iii. 2,44: "a fountaine shere ;" Id. 
iv. 6, 20 : "Pactolus with his waters shere;" Golding, Ovid''s Met. iv. : 
" The water was so pure and shere." 

64. Converts. See on v. i. 66. 
^ 66. Digressing. " Transgressing " (Schmidt) ; turning aside from the 
right path, going astray. 

72. Giving. In giving. Gr. 372, 

80, The Beggar and the King. An allusion to the old ballad oi King 
Cophetutty which may be found in Percy's Reliques. Cf L. L. L. i, 2. 114: 
" Is there not a ballad, boy, of the King and the Beggar ,!"" 

86. Confound. Destroy, Cf iii. 4. 60. 

88. None other can. Can love no one else. Gr, 387. 

89. Make. Do, Cf M. W. iv. 2, 55 : " What make you here ?" 0th. 
i, 2. 49 : " Ancient, what makes he here V Id. iii. 4. 169 : " What make 
you from home ?" 

93. Kneel. The quartos have "walk." 

95. Bid me Joy. See on ii, 3, 15, 

97. Unto. In addition to. Gr. 190. 

99, Omitted in the folio. 

loi. .The C, P. ed. says that this line as it stands is an Alexandrine, 
and prayers a dissyllable. It would be better to make are in jest one 
foot, bringing the line under Gr. 497. D. (following Capell) settles the 
question by dropping in, which is better than Pope's elision of do. 

103, Would be. Wishes to be. See Gr, 329. 

109, I ID, As these lines both end with have, Pope substituted crave in 
the first, S. Walker prefers to make the change in the second. Pray- 
ers is here a dissyllable. 



ACT V. SCENE IV. 



215 



III. Good aunt, stand up. The folio gives this to Bolinghroke ; the ist 
quarto, to York. 

1 13. And if. Theo. changed this to " An if," which many eds. adopt. 
See Gr. 103. 

118. Mouths. The folio has ''mouth's." 

119. Pardonnez-moi. That is, excuse me; a polite way of refusing 
the request. 

121. My sour husband. Cf. V. and A. 449 : "Jealousy, that sour un- 
welcome guest ;" Id. 655 : " This sour informer." See on iv. i. 240. 

122. Cf. V. 5. 13 below. 

124. Chopping. *' Changing, inconstant " (Hunter). Wb. quotes L'Es- 
trange : " We go on chopping and changing our friends."- Cotgrave 
uses the word to define the Fr. changer. Schmidt explains it here as 
" mincing, affected," or " perhaps =the French which hacks or disfigures 
our words," The word is still used in the sense of " changing suddenly " 
in the nautical phrase, " a chopping wind." The meaning of the passage 
seems to be : " The chopping French, which changes one meaning for 
another, which sets the word itself against the word, we do not under- 
stand." 

125. Set thy tongue there. That is, let it speak the pity that the eye 
expresses. 

132. Happy va7itage. Lucky advantage. "The Duchess here implies 
that kneeling was for the suppliant as much a position of vantage as it 
would be the reverse for a combatant" (C. P. ed.). See on i. 3. 218. 

137. On for, see Gr. 149 ; and on the measure, Gr. 466. The brother- 
in-law was John, Duke of Exeter and Earl of Huntingdon, who had mar- 
ried Elizabeth, Bolingbroke's sister. He, together with Aumerle and 
Surrey, had been deprived of his dukedom in the first Parliament of 
Henry IV. 

138. Consorted. Confederated. Cf v. 6. 15. See also R. of L. 1609: 
"Collatine and his consorted lords." 

139. Cf. A. W. iii. 4. 15 : " Where death and danger dogs the heels of 
worth;" Rich. III. iv. I. 40: "Death and destruction dog thee at the 
heels !" 

140. Order several powers. Marshal separate bodies of troops. On 
several, cf. Temp. iii. i. 42 : " For several virtues Have I liked several 
women ;" A. and C i. 5. 62 : " Twenty several messengers ;" Milton, 
Comus, 25 : " commits to several government ;" Hymn on Nativity, 234 : 
" Each fetter'd ghost slips to his several grave," etc. On powers, cf. ii. 
2. 46, etc. 

144. Mine. Not in the early eds., but found in the Coll. MS. and 
adopted by D., St., W., and others. The 5th quarto has "cousin too," 
which the Camb. ed. gives. 

Scene IV. — i. For the "redundant object," see Gr, 414. 
2. Holinshed says that Exton overheard these words while waiting 
upon the king at table. For the omission of the relative, see Gr. 244. 
5, Urg''d. See on iii. i. 4. 
T. Wistly. Wistfully. Cf. ^. <?/Z. 1355 : "wistly on him gaz'd." 



2i6 NOTES. 

8. As who should say. Cf. M. of V. i. 2. 45 : " He doth nothing but 
frown, as who should say, * If you will not have me, choose ;' " and see 
Gr. 257. 

1 1. Rid. Make away with, destroy. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 364 : ** The red 
plague rid you !" 

Scene V. — Holinshed's account of Richard's death is as follows : 
" Sir Piers Exton incontinently departed from the court, with eight 
strong persons in his company, and came to Pomfret, commanding the 
esquire that was accustomed to sew and take the assay* before King 
Richard, to do so no more, saying, * Let him eat now, for he shall not long 
eat' King Richard sat down to dinner, and was served without court- 
esy or assay, whereupon, much marvelling at the sudden change, he de- 
manded of the esquire why he did not his duty : ' Sir (said he), I am oth- 
erwise commanded by Sir Piers of Exton, which is newly come from 
King Henry.' When King Richard heard that word, he took the carv- 
ing-knife in his hand, and struck the esquire on the head, saying, ' The 
devil take Henry of Lancaster and thee together ;' and with that word 
Sir Piers entered the chamber, well armed, with eight tall men likewise 
armed, every of them having a bill in his hand. King Richard, perceiv- 
ing this, put the table from him, and stepping to the foremost man, wrung 
the bill out of his hands, and so valiantly defended himself that he slew 
four of those that thus came to assail him. Sir Piers being half dismayed, 
herewith leapt into the chair where King Richard was wont to sit, while 
the other four persons fought with him, and chased him about the cham- 
ber ; and, in conclusion, as King Richard traversed his ground from one 
side of the chamber to another, and coming by the chair where Sir Piers 
stood, he was felled with the stroke of a pole-axe which Sir Piers gave 
him upon the head, and therewith rid him out of life, without giving him 
respite once to call to God for mercy of his past offences." 

I. How I may compare. The reading of ist quarto; the other early 
eds. have " how to compare." 
3. For because. See Gr. 151. 

8. Still-breeding. Ever breeding. Cf. Temp. iii. 3. 64 : " the still-clos- 
ing waters ;" Id. i. 2. 229 : " the still-vex'd Bermoothes." See on ii. 2. 
34. Gr. 69. 

9. This little world. Cf. Lear, iii. i. 10: " Strives in his little world of 
man," etc. The poet here uses the philosophy which is thus described 
by Sir Walter Raleigh : " Because in the little frame of man's body there 
is a representation of the universal, and (by allusion) a kind of participa- 
tion of all the parts there, therefore was man called microcosmos, or the 
little world." 

10. Humours. Dispositions. The " four humours " in a man, accord- 
ing to the old physicians, were blood, choler, phlegm, and melancholy. 
If these were all duly mixed, all would be well ; but if any of them un- 

* That is, to put the dishes on the table, and taste of them before serving them. See 
on V. 5. 99 below. 



ACT V. SCENE V. 



217 



duly preponderated, the man became " humourous," one " humour " or 
another bearing too great a sway in him. See Trench's Select Glossary^ 
s. V. 

13. Scruples. Doubts. The folio has " the Faith it selfe Against the 
Faith." 

15-17. See Matt. xi. 28 ; xix. 14, 24. K postern is a small gate. The 
quartos have " a small needle's eye." Needle was often a monosyllable ; 
as in M. N D. iii. 2. 204 : " Have' with our needles created both one 
flower;" R. of L. 319: "And, griping it, the needle his finger pricks," 
etc. In these and similar cases the modern eds. often substitute neeld, 
a monosyllabic form which was in use in the time of S. Cf. Fairfax, 
Tasso,xx. 95 : "Thy neeld and spindle, not a sword and speare." In 
Rer. V. prol. 5 the quartos have "neele," which is frequently found in 
Gammer Gurton, rhyming with "feele." See Gr. 465. 

On thread, cf. Cor. in. i. 127: "They would not thread the gates;" 
Lear, ii. i. 121 : "threading dark-eyed night." In the latter passage, as 
Schmidt suggests, the adjective is " evidently formed in allusion to the 
eye of a needle." Cf JiT. John,^. 4. 11 : "Unthread the rude eye of re- 
bellion." In the present passage, thread was doubtless suggested by 
eye. 
' 18. For the redundant they, see Gr. 243. 

21. Ragged. Rugged, rough. Cf. T. G. of V. i. 2. 121 : "a ragged, 
fearful -hanging rock;" 7". ^. v. 3. 133: "the ragged stones;" Milton, 
VAIL 8 : " under low-brow'd rocks, As ragged as thy locks ;" Isa. ii. 21 : 
"the tops of the ragged rocks." 

22. For. See on 3 above. 

25. Nor shall not. See Gr. 406. Cf. iv. i. 254. 

Silly. Often ==" harmless, innocent, helpless" (Schmidt), and used 
" as a term of pity." Cf. V. and A. 1098 : " the silly lamb ;" T. G. of V. 
iv. I. 72 : "silly women or poor passengers." See also Milton, Hymn on 
Nativity, 91 : 

" Perhaps their loves, or else their sheep 
Was all that did their silly thoughts so busy keep" 

(that is, their simple thoughts). It is also used " as a term of contempt ;" 
as in I Hen. VI. ii. 3. 22 : "Alas, this is a child, a silly dwarf!" As 
Trench remarks {Select Glossary, s. v.), the word (identical with the Ger- 
man selig) "has successively meant, (i) blessed, (2) innocent, (3) harm- 
less, (4) weakly foolish." 

26. Refuge their shame, etc. Find refuge for their shame in the fact 
that, etc. S. nowhere else uses refuge as a verb. Cf. Gr. 290. 

27. That many have. Have sat. Cf. Hen. VIII. iii. 2. 192 : "that am, 
have, and will be." 

31. Person. The reading of ist quarto; the other early eds. have 
" prison." 

36. King'd. Made a king. See Gr. 294. 

43. Broke. See Gr. 343. Cf, iii. i. 13, etc. 

46. Hear. The folio reading; the quartos have "check" = rebuke, 
reprove, as in 2 Hen. IV. i. 2. 220, etc. 

50. Henley explains the passage thus: "There are three ways in 



2i8 NOTES. 

which a clock notices the progress of time, viz., by the libration of 
the pendulum, the index on the dial, and the striking of the hour. To 
these the king, in his comparison, severally alludes ; his sighs corre- 
sponding to the jarring of the pendulum, which, at the same time that it 
watches or numbers the seconds, marks also their progress in the minutes 
on the dial or outward watch, to which the king compares his eyes ; and 
their want of figures is supplied by a succession of tears, or, to use an ex- 
pression of Milton, minttte-drops ;* his finger, by as regularly wiping 
these away, performs the office of the dial-point ; his clamorous groans 
are the sounds that tell the hour." 

51. My thoughts are minutes. "That is, my mind is never at rest; 
my thoughts recur in regular time and order" (Morris). 

Jar = tick. Cf. JV. T. i. 2. 43 : "a jar o' the clock." 

55. The early eds. have " Now, sir, the sound that tells." Coll. sug- 
gested yi?^ (= instead of) ; and Pope, sounds that tell. 

57. So sighs and tears, etc. Cf. A. Y. L. iii. 2. 321 : " Sighing every 
minute and groaning every hour would detect the lazy foot of Time as 
well as a clock." 

60. Jack d' the clock. An automaton that struck the hours. Such 
figures were not unfrequently connected with public clocks in those 
days, and are still to be seen on the "Clock Tower" in Berne, and on 
the famous clock in Strasburg Cathedral. There used to be two of 
them in front of St. Dunstan's Church, Fleet Street, London ; and there 
are still two such (or were when we were last in London) in front of a 
clock-maker's shop in Cheapside, near Bow Church. Cf. Rich. III. iv. 2. 
117: 

" Because that, like a Jack, thou keep'st the stroke 
Betwixt thy begging and my meditation." 

T, of A. iii. 6. 107 : 

"You fools of fortune, trencher-friends, time's flies, 
Cap and knee slaves, vapours, and minute-jacks ;" 

that is, " fnarking every minute, changing with every minute ?" (Schmidt). 
See also B. and F., Coxcomb, i. 5 : 

"Is this your jack i' th' clock-house?" 
Will you strike, sir?" 

Decker, Lantern and Candlelight: "The Jacke of a clock-house goes 
upon screws, and his office is to do nothing but strike ;" Flecknoe, 
^nigmat. Char. : " He scrapes you just' such a leg, in answering you, as 
jack o' th' clock-house agoing about to strike." 

61. Holp. Found both as imperfect and as past participle of help. 

* The expression which Henley mentions occurs in // Penseroso, 13 : 
"Or usher' d with a shower still, 
When the gust has blown his fill, 
Ending on the rustling leaves, 
With minute-drops from off the eaves ;' ' 

that is, the last drippings from the roof, falling at intervals of a minute. Cf. mtnuie- 
guns. 



ACT K SCENE V. 219 

Cf. K. John, i. i. 240 : " Sir Robert never holp to make this leg ;" Temp. 
i. 2. 63 : "But blessedly holp hither." S. also uses helped ; as in 0th. 
ii. I. 138 ; T G. of V. iv. 2. 48, etc. 

There is perhaps an allusion here to i Samuel, xvi. 23. 

66. Brooch. An ornamental buckle for the hat ; here probably = or- 
nament (Schmidt). Cf. Ham. iv. 7. 94 : 

"he is the brooch indeed 
And gem of all the nation." 

Malone explains the passage thus : " As strange and uncommon as a 
brooch which is now no longer worn;" and he cites A. W. i. i. 171 : 
"just like the brooch and the tooth-pick, which wear not now." 

67. Thanks, noble peer. The gold coin called the noble was worth 6j-. 
8^., while that known as the royal was worth los. The groat was 4^. ; 
so that the difference in value between them was ten groats. Richard 
says : " The cheapest of us (that is, the noble, worth twenty groats) is 
valued at double its worth, or ten groats too dear. This jest is said to 
have been borrowed from Queen Elizabeth. Mr. John Blower, in a ser- 
mon before her Majesty, first said, "My royal Queen," and a little after, 
"My noble Queen." Upon which says the Queen: "What! am I ten 
groats worse than I was V A similar joke may be found in i Hen. IV. 
ii. 4. 317-321. 

69. What. See Gr. 254. 

70. Sad. Grave, gloomy. Cf M. of V. ii. 2. 205 : 

"Like one well studied in a sad ostent 
To please his grandam." 

T. N. iii. 4. 5 : " he is sad and civil," etc. 

Dog has troubled the souls of some of the commentators. Theo., 
following Warburton, substituted "drudge," and Becket coniectured 
"Doeg." ■• 

75. Sometimes. See on i. 2. 54. 

76. It yearn' d. It grieved. Cf. Hen. V. iv. 3. 26 :• " It yearns me not ;" 
M. W. iii. 5. 45 : " it would yearn your heart to see it." See also J. C. ii. 
2. 129, and note in our ed., p. 153. Gr. 297. 

79. Bestrid. Mounted. Cf. Hen. V. iii. 7. 15 : " When I bestride him, 
I soar;" 3 Hen. VI. ii. i. 183 : "And once again bestride our foaming 
steeds." For the form bestrid, cf C. of E. v. i. 192 ; " When I bestrid 
thee in the wars and took Deep scars to save thy life" (that is, defended 
thee when fallen in battle). Cf betid, v. i. 42. 

83. So proudly as. See Gr. 275. 

85. Jade. " A term of contempt or pity for a worthless or wicked or 
maltreated horse " (Schmidt). Cf M.for M. ii. i. 269 : " let carman whip 
his jade," etc. On eat = eaten, see Gr. 343. 

90. J^ail. Often followed, as here, by on or upon. Cf M.ofV.i. 3. 49 : 
" he rails ... on me, my bargains," etc. 

94. Spur-galVd. The folio reading ; the quartos have " Spurrde, galld " 
or " Spurde, galde." 

Jauncing. Nares defines the word : "To ride hard ; ixom jancer, old 
French, to work a horse violently." 



220 NOTES. 

95. Here is no longer stay. That is, for thee. Cf. T. G. of V. i. 3. 75 : 
" No more of stay ! to-morrow thou must go." 

98. Fall to. Cf A. V. L. ii. 7. 171 : " Welcome ! fall to ;" Hen. VI. v. 
I. 38 : "I pray you, fall to," etc. 

99. Taste of it first. See extract from Holinshed above. To take the 
assay (or say) or to give the say, as it was called, was a regular formality 
at the royal table. Nares says, " To give the say, at court, was for the 
royal taster to declare the goodness of the wine or dishes." When 
Charles I. returned for a time to St. James, Herbert says, " At meals he 
was served with the usual state : the carver, the sewer, cupbearer, and 
gentleman usher doing their offices respectively ; his cup was given on 
the knee, as were the covered dishes ; the say was given, and other ac- 
customed ceremonies of the court observed." 

100. loi. Printed as two lines of verse in the early eds. Coll. first 
gave it as prose, and has been followed by most of the recent editors. 
Pope changed lately to "late." 

104. St. suggests ''What ! mean'st death in this rude assault ?" 

109. Staggers. Makes to reel, strikes down. Used nowhere else by 
S. in this sense. It is transitive only in one other passage [Hen. VIII. 
ii. 4. 212 : "The question did at first so stagger me"), where it is meta- 
phorical and ~ bewilder. Intransitively, it means to waver or hesitate ; 
as in M. W, iii. 3. 12 : "without any pause or staggering, take this bas- 
ket," etc. 

Pope omits Exton. 

The story of the murder of Richard by Sir Pierce of Exton, which S. 
has adopted, was related by Caxton in his addition to Hygden's Poly- 
chronicon, and was copied by Holinshed, who, however, notices the other 
stories that he was starved, or starved himself to death. It is supposed 
that Caxton got his account from a French manuscript in the royal library 
at Paris, written by a partisan of Richard. Thomas of Walsingham, 
who was living at the time of the king's death, states that he voluntarily 
starved himself In the manifesto of the Percies against Henry IV., 
issued just before the battle of Shrewsbury, Henry is distinctly charged 
with having caused Richard to perish from hunger, thirst, and cold, after 
fifteen days of sufferings unheard of among Christians. Two years later 
the charge is repeated by Archbishop Scrope, but he adds " ut vulgariter 
dicitur." This is the version adopted by Gray in The Bard: 

" Fill high the sparkling bowl, 

The rich repast prepare ; 
Reft of a crown, he yet may share the feast: 

Close by the regal chair 

Fell Thirst and Famine scowl 
A baleful smile upon their baffled guest." 

There is yet another story — that Richard escaped from Pontefract, and 
lived nineteen years in Scotland. This account is supported by Tytler 
in his History of Scotland (vol. ii., Appendix), and it has been proved that 
such a belief was entertained early in the 15th century. In the records 
of the Chamberlain of Scotland there are entries of^the sums paid for the 
King's maintenance for eleven years. On the other hand, it is asserted 



ACT V. SCENE VI. 221 

that the person who was thus taken care of was a pretender, and that no 
satisfactory evidence can be found that he was the real Richard, 

The body of Richard is said to have been brought to London, and 
publicly exhibited in the Tower. It was buried at Langley, but after- 
wards transferred by Henry V. to Westminster Abbey. When the tomb 
was opened, some years ago, no marks of violence were found upon the 
skull. This would seem to disprove the Exton story, but Tytler main- 
tains that the body was not that of Richard, who, as he affirms, was 
buried in the Grayfriars' Church, at Sterling, in Scotland. 

The question will probably have to remain among the unsolved prob- 
lems of history. On the whole, there can be little doubt that Richard 
died at Pontefract ; but the story of assassination is a mere fable, and 
that of voluntary starvation very doubtful. More than this the conflict- 
ing testimony does not seem to justify us in saying.* 

Scene VI. — 3. Ckester. That is, Cirencester, in Gloucestershire. 
The early eds. have Ciceter, which indicates the common pronunciation, 

8. The ist quarto has " Oxford, Salisbury, Blunt." It has been sug- 
gested that as the name of Oxford frequently occurs in Holinshed, S. 
may inadvertently have taken it for the title of one of the conspirators. 
It is corrected in the folio. 

15, Consoj'ted. See on v. 3. 138. 

19, Shakespeare here follows Holinshed, who says that the Abbot 
died shortly after the defeat of the conspiracy in 1400. But Dean Stan- 
ley, in his Memorials of Westminster Abbey, says that it was William of 
Colchester, abbot from 1386 to 1420, "who was sent by Henry IV. with 
sixty horsemen to the Council of Constance, and died twenty years after 
Shakespeare reports him to have been hanged for treason." 

20. Sour. See on iv. i. 240. 

25. Reverend. The ist and 2d quartos have " reverent," but the words 
seem to be used indifferently. i?^^/«= place. 

26. Joy. Enjoy. Cf. 2 Hen. VI. iii. 2. 365 : "live thou, to joy thy 
life ;" Id. iv. 9. i : " Was ever king that joy'd an earthly throne V 

27. So as. See Gr. 133. 

35. A deed of slander. That is, that will be the cause of slander. All 
the early eds. except ist quarto have " deed of slaughter," 
40. Him murdered. " Him who is murdered." Gr. 246. 

* In an interesting Memoir of Bishop Braybroke (1381-1404), printed in the Trans- 
actions of the London and Middlesex Archceological Society (vol. iii. 1870), Mr, E. W. 
Braybrook, F.S.A., after remarking that the theory of slow starvation is more probable 
than that of assassination, adds: " But whether this starvation was an act of murder by 
Henry's orders, or an act of voluntary suicide, is uncertain. The secrets of the dread- 
ful prison-house at Pomfret have never been revealed ; and the documentary evidence, 
when allowance is made for the partialities of the writers, is about equal on either side. 
There remains, however, another alternative, for which there is no documentary evidence 
whatever, but which may after all afford the true explanation — that Richard's death was 
natural ; that the few short steps between the prisons and the graves of princes were 
traversed the sooner by the natural effect of his recent sad experiences on a constitution 
weakened by indulgence. Not a single testimony rests upon any personal knowledge, 
and the tongues of rumour are always busy when the great ones of the earth die suddenly," 



222 



NOTES. 



43. The ist quarto has " thorough." See Mer. p. 144, note on Through- 
fares. 

47. For that. For that which. Gr. 244. 

48. Sullen. Dark, gloomy. Cf. Sonn. 29. 12 : 

" Like to the lark at break of day arising 
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate ," 

I Heti. IV. i. 2. 236 : "And like bright metal on a sullen ground." 

Incontinent. Forthwith, immediately. Cf. 0th. iii. 4. 12 : " he will re- 
turn incontinent." We have incontinently in 0th. i. 3. 306. Gr. i. The 
Coll. MS. puts a period after black. 
52. After, Pope substituted '' over." 




GREAT SEAL OF RICHARD II. 



INDEX OF WORDS EXPLAINED. 



accomplished, 175. 

adverse, 163. 

advice, 166. 

advised (=:deliberate), 165. 

affects (noun), 169. 

afore, 176. 

after (—afterwards), 188. 

against (=in anticipation of), 

197. 
aggravate, 151. 
allow, 212. 
amazed, 212. 
amazing, 163. 
antic (noun), 192. 
apparent ( ::=evident ), 150, 

203. 
appeach, 212. 
appeal, 150. 
appellant, 151. 
apprehension, 168. 
approve (=prove), 163. 
apricocks, 197. 
argument (=subject), 150. 
ask (=call for), 175. 
aspect (accent), 164, 165. 
assay, 220. 
at all points, 161. 
atone, 156. 

attach (^arrest), 186. 
attend (:=await), 163. 
attorneys-general, 176. 
awful (=:full of awe), 195. 
ay, 196, 204. 

baffled, 154. 

balm (=:consecratedoil), 190. 
band (^bond), 150. 
barbed, 196. 
barely, 176. 
Barkloughly, 188. 
base, 187. 
base (court), 197, 
bay, 186. 
beadsmen, 190, 
befall, 174. 
beguile, 206. 
beholding, 204. 
belike, 194. 

benevolences ( = forced 
loans), 177. 



Berkeley Castle, 183. 

beshrew, 192. 

bestrid, 219. 

betid, 208. 

bills (weapons), 190. 

blanks, 177. 

bonnet (:::=hat), 169. 

boot, 154. 

braving, 185. 

bring (^accompany), 168. 

broke (=:broken), 182. 

broking, 178. 

brooch, 219. 

business (trisyllable), 176. 

buzz (=^whisper), 171. 

by (:=on account of), 172. 

by (^concerning), 176. 

caitiff, 158. 

careful (=:full of care), 182. 
challenge (^demand), 186. 
charge (=::expense), 175. 
charters (^drafts), 169. 
cheerly (adverb), 162. 
chopping, 215. 
Cicester, 221. 
civil, 195. 
clap, 190. 

clean (^completely), 188. 
climate (=:region), 203. 
cloister (verb), 208. 
coat (=coat-of-arms), 188, 
commend (:=give up), 196. 
commends (noun), 188. 
compare between, 175. 
compassionate, 164. 
complain (reflexive), 158. 
complain (transitive), 197. 
complices, 186. 
complot, 165. 
complotted, 153. 
composition, 173. 
conceit, 181. 
conclude (=agree), 154. 
conduct (=escort), 204. 
confound, 214. 
conjuration, 189. 
consorted, 215. 
convert, 210. 
convey (=steal), 206. 



Cotswold, 184. 
cousin, 158. 
crooked, 174. 
crossly, 187. 
cunning, 164. 
current, 166. 

dead (time), 201. 

dear, 154, 164. 

deceivable, 185. 

defend (==forbid), 161. 

delectable (accent), 184. 

deliver, 190, 

depose, 162. 

design, 156. 

despised (==despicable), 185. 

determinate, 164. 

difference (=quarrel), 156. 

digressing, 214. 

discomfortable, 189. 

dispark, 188. 

dissolve, 182. 

divine, 151, 198. 

double (forked), 189. 

double-fatal, 190. 

doubt, 168, 198. 

dress (=till), 198. 

dust, 185. 

eager (=sharp), 151. 
ear (^plough), 192. 
else, 152. 
Ely House, 169. 
enfranchisement, 195. 
engage, 202. 
engaoled, 164. 
ensue (transitive), 175. 
ensuing, 172. 
entertain, 179. 
entreated (=treated), 188. 
envy (=malice), 172. 
envying (accent), 151. 
event (=issue), 176. 
exactly, 154. 
except, 152. 
exclaim (noun), 157. 
exile (accent), 164. 
expedience, 178. 
expedient, 169. 
extinct, 166. 



224 



INDEX OF WORDS EXPLAINED. 



faction, 192. 

fall (transitive), 199. 

fantastic, 168. 

favour (:=face), 204. 

fear (reflexive), 183. 

fearful (^fuU of fear), 190. 

fire (dissyllable), 168. 

Flint Castle, 192. 

fly-slow, 164. 

foil, 166. 

fondly (=:foolishly), 197, 202. 

for (^because), 168. 

forth of, 192. 

free, 186. _ 

frequent (intransitive), 213. 

furbish, 162. 

get (reflexive), 182. 
ghster, 197. 
glose, 171. 
gnarling, 168. _ 
graved (=buried), 191. 
great (teeming), 176. 

had as lief, 212. 

Hallowmas, 210. 

happily, 214. 

happy (=fortunate), 188. 

hard-favoured, 207. 

hateful (=-full of hate), 183. 

haught, 206. 

haviour, 162. 

heaven (dissyllable), 164. 

height (=dignity), 155. 

Hereford, 150. 

high-stomached, 150. 

his (=its), 174. 

hold (interjectional), 183. 

holp, 218. 

hour (dissyllable), 157. 

humoured, 192. 

humours, 216. 

idly, 212. 

imp (verb), 178. 

impeach, 155. 

in, 184, 186. 

in (=into), 190. 

incontinent, 222. 

indifferent ( = impartial ), 

. IBs. 

inform, 176. 

inhabitable, 152. 

inherit, 152, 173. 

injurious, 153. 

inn, 207. 

interchangeably, 213. 

Jack-o'-the-clock, 218. 
jade, 219. 
jar (=tick), 218. 
jauncing, 219. 



jest (=play), 163. 
Jewry, 172. 
journeyman, 166. 
joy (=enjoy), 184, 221. 
judged, 203. 

kern, 175. 

kin, 203. 

kind, 203. 

king (verb), 217. 

knots (flower-beds), 198. 

law, 186. 
lean-looked, 187. 
learn (=3teach), 203. 
leave (=leave off), 211. 
lendings, 152. 
lesser, 173. 
letters-patents, 176. 
lewd (=base), 152. 
liberal (:=free), 176. 
lief, 212. 

light (=alight), 152. 
like (=.-likely), 2x3. 
linger (transitive), 182. 
lodge (=throw down), 196. 
lodgings, 158. 

maid-pale, 195. 
make {=do), 214. 
manage (:=handle), 190. 
manage (noun), 169, 197. 
marry (exclamation), 168. 
measure (a dance), 168. 
metal, 157. 
methinks, 172. 
misbegotten, 151. 
mistake, 194. 
model, 207. 
model (=copy), 157. 
model (=mould), 191. 
moe (=more), 176. 
mortal (=deadly), 189. 
motive, 155. 
murther, 158. 

native (^hereditary), 189. 

near (^nearer), 190. 

needle, 217. 

needs (adverb), 189. 

neighbour (adjective), 153. 

news (number), 198. 

nicely, 173. 

noble (a coin), 219. 

noisome, 198. 

note (=stigma), 151. 

object (transitive), 151. 
obscene, 203. 
obscure (accent), 196. 
odds (number), 198. 
of (=::about), 192. 



office (^service), 183. 
offices, 159. 
order (taken), 210. 
orderly (adverb), 161. 
ourself, 150, 169. 
ourselves, 150. 
outdared, 155. 
overweening, 154. 
owe (:=own), 204. 

pale (:=enclosure), 198. 

paper (=^letters), 166. 

parle, 155. _ _ 

part (transitive), 187. 

part (=:depart), 210. 

partialize, 153. 

party (=part), 195. 

party-verdict, 166. 

passages ( = wanderings ), 
166. 

pelican, 174. 

pelting, 172. 

Percy (trisj'llable), 184. 

perforce, 185. 

perspective, 180. 

perused (=surveyed), 194. 

pilled, 177. 

pine, 210. 

pitch, 153. 

plaining, 164. 

Flashy, 158. 

plated, 162. 

Pomfret, 208. 

pompous, 205. 

poorly, 196. 

post, 152, 178. 

postern, 217. 

pound (plural), 182. 

power (:=army), 181, 186. 

presage (accent), 183. 

presence (=personal inter- 
view), 166. 

presence (;=presence-cham- 
ber), 167. 

presently ( = immediately), 
182. 

pressed, 190. 

prick (=;incite), 176, 184. 

process, 184. 

profane, 195. 

profit, 205. 

proof, 162. 

property, 191. 

purchase (=gain), 167. 

quit (=requite), 208. 

ragged (=rugged), 217. 
rapier, 202. 
Ravenspurg, 178. 
receipt, 153. 
record (accent), 205. 



INDEX OF WORDS EXPLAINED. 



225 



recreant, 154. 
refuge (verb), 217. 
regreet, 162, 164. 
remember (reflexive), 166, 

197. 
Renald, 177. 
repeal (=recall), 181. 
respect, 171, 174. 
restful, 201. 
retire (transitive), 181. 
return (=:report), 163, 196. 
revenue (accent), 205. 
reversion, 169. 
rid (=destroy), 216. 
right-drawn, 151. 
roimdly ( =^ unreservedly ), 

174. 
rounds (:=surrounds), 191. 
rouse, 186. 
rubs, 197. 
rue, 1 99. 
rug-headed, 175. 
ruth, 199. 

sacrament, 207. 

sad (=:grave), 219. 

safeguard (verb), 158. 

Saint Lambert's day, 156. 

say (=:;assay), 220. 

scruples, 217. 

secret, 179. 

secure (=careless), 214. 

securely, 163, 177. 

security, 189. 

see (=see to), 176. 

self-lDorn, 184. 

self-mould, 157. 

sepulchre (accent), 165, 172. 

set, 202. 

set on, 197. 

several (=separate), 215. 

sheer, 214. 

shook, 204. 

should (=:=\vould), 186. 



shrewd, 190. 

signories, 188. 

silly, 217. 

six and seven, 183. 

slander, 153, 166. 

so (=^be it so), 182. 

so (=if), 171, 183. 

sometimes (=former), 158. 

soon-believing, 153. 

sooth, 196. 

sort (:=company), 205. 

sour, 205. 

spirit (monosyllable), 162. 

stagger (transitive), 220. 

stand upon, 186. 

state, 205. 

stay (=await), 178. 

stay (dissyllable), 163. 

still (=:ever), 171, 181. 

still-breeding, 216. 

stir, 184. 

stranger (^foreign), 164. 

strewed, 167. 

stricken, 208. 

strike, 177. 

subjected, 192. 

suggest (=incite), 153, 198. 

sullen, 222. 

sullens, 175. 

sunshine (adjective), 205. 

supportance, 197. 

sword (^cross)^ 165. 

sympathize, 208. 

tattered, 194. 
tend^=rattend), 204. 
tender, 184. 
tendering ( = cherishing ) 

151- 
the (demonstrative), 173. 
threat (verb), 195. 
tidings (singular), 177, 198. 
timeless, 201. 
to (omitted), 185, 186. 



toiled (=iwearied), 203. 
trade (=passage), 196. 
tradition, 192. 
travel (=;journey), 166. 
triumphs, 212. 
tucket, 161. 

unavoided (=unavoidable), 

177. 
uncivil, 195. 
undeaf, 171. 
underbearing, i6g. 
unfelt, 184.- 
unhappied, 188. 
unpossible, 183. 
unreverent, 174. 
unstaid, 170. 
unthrifts, 185. 

untuned (=:discordant), 164. 
urging, 187. 

vaded, 157. 
vantage, 165, 215. 
venge, 158. 
venom, 171. 
verge, 173. 
viol, 164. 

wantons, 196. 
warder, 163. 
waxen, 162. 

Westminster Hall, 201. 
when (impatient), 154. 
where (=^whereas), 192. 
which (^who), 155. 
while (^until), 163. 
white-beards, 190. 
, wistly, 215. 
worth, 153. 
wrack, 177- 
writ (:=written), 171. 

yearn, 219. 
: yond, 194. . • 



SHAKESPEARE. 

WITH NOTES BY WM. J. ROLFE, A.M., 

Formerly Head Master of the High-School, Cambridge, Mass. 
ILLUSTRATED WITH WOODCUTS. 



THE MERCHANT OF VENICE. i6mo, Cloth, 90 cts. 
THE TEMPEST i6mo, Cloth, 90 cents. 
HENRY THE EIGHTH i6mo. Cloth, 90 cents. 
JULIUS CAESAR. i6mo, Cloth, 90 cents. 
RICHARD THE SECOND. i6mo, Cloth, 90 cents. 

From Prof. F..J. Child, of Harvard University. 

After using the book with an evening class in Shakespeare, Prof. Child 
writes as follows : 

I read your " Merchant of Venice " with my class, and found it in 
every respect an excellent edition. I do not agree with my friend White 
in the opinion that Shakespeare requires but few notes — that is, if he is 
to be thoroughly understood. Doubtless he may be enjoyed, and many 
a hard place slid over. Your notes give all the help a young student 
-requires, and yet the reader for pleasure will easily get at just what he 
wants. You have indeed been conscientiously concise. 

From L. R. Williston, A.M., Head Master of the High-School, Cam- 
bridge, Mass. 
Mr. Rolfe's edition of " The Merchant of Venice " is an excellent one 
for school or general use. The notes contain all the explanations and 
references needful for a critical study of the language, as well as for un- 
derstanding the thought of the play. The extracts from Schlegel, Mrs. 
Jameson, and others, in the Introduction, helping to a better appreciation 
of the characters of the play, are a peculiar recommendation of this edition. 

From Rev. A. P. Peabody, D.D., Professor in Harvard University. 

I regard your own work on this play as of the highest merit, while you 
have turned the labors of- others to the best possible account. I want to 
have the higher classes of our schools introduced to Shakespeare chief 
of all, and then to other standard English authors ; but this can riot be 
done to advantage, unless under a teacher of equally rare gifts and abund- 
ant leisure, or through editions specially prepared for such use. I trust 
that you will have the requisite encouragement to proceed with a work 
.so happily begun. 

Your " Merchant of Venice " seems to me by no means limited, in its 
adaptation, to school use. All who have not access to a somewhat ex- 
tended Shakespearian apparatus need* such editions as this ; and there 
are manv not unintelligent adult readers of Shakespeare who lose half 
the pleasure and profit of reading him for lack of precisely such -aid as 
you supply. 



Rolfe's Shakespeare. 



From Prof. J. Dorman Steele, Fi'ee Academy^ Elmira, N. Y. 
The copy of the " Tempest " is at hand, and very carefully examined. 
We shall use it in the Spring Term. Adoption in our school is, of 
course, the highest commendation I can give. The " Merchant of Ven- 
ice " is now in use and gives unqualified satisfaction. Prior to this, 
Shakespeare's plays were failing to interest the pupils, because of the 
difficulty found in understanding and appreciating the text. Your beau- 
tiful and comprehensive edition is very helpful indeed, and it has quick- 
ened the enthusiasm of the pupils. 

From W. C. Collar, A.M., Master of the Roxbury Latin School, Boston. 

Please accept my thanks for a copy of your " Merchant of Venice." I 
have made a trial of it with my first class, and find it admirably adapted 
for use in the school-room. I think no one who was not an experienced 
teacher and a careful student of Shakespeare could have anticipated and 
supplied so well the needs of the learner ; and, if I may judge from my 
own case, instructors will find the copious references contained in the 
notes very helpful in the preparation of their lessons. Give us a few 
more plays edited on the same plan, and there will no longer be any ex- 
cuse for excluding Shakespeare from our classical and high schools. 

From S. M. Capron, A.M., Master of the High-School, Hartford, Conn. 

In my judgment, you have produced, in *' The Merchant of Venice," 
the best and most sensible ec^ition of one of Shakespeare's plays which 
has yet appeared for school use. The publishers have done every thing 
for you in respect to the form and general appearance of the book ; and 
your notes are not only critical, but sufficiently brief and pointed, and, so 
far as I have examined them, they seem to cover the very points in the 
text which particularly need elucidation. 

Go on as you have begun. 

This work has been done so well that it could hardly have been done 
better. It shows throughout, knowledge, taste, discriminating judgment, 
and, what is rarer and of yet higher value, a sympathetic appreciation of 
the poet's moods and purposes. * * * Mr. Rolfe's notes are numerous 
but brief, and are generally well adapted to their purpose, which is that 
of explanation, instruction, and suggestion without discussion. The pe- 
culiarities of Shakespeare's style — which, rarely obscure, is often involved, 
and in which the main thought is sometimes suspended, and even for a 
moment lost sight of amid the crowd of others that itself has called up — 
are pointed out and elucidated; his allusions are explained; his singular 
use of woi*ds, of moods and tenses and cases is remarked upon ; and the 
archaic and; transitional phraseology which is found in many passages of 
his plays (positively many, but comparatively very few), are made the oc- 
casion of instructive but unpedantic comment. — JV. V. Times. 



Published my HARPER & BROTHERS, New York. 

^W^ ^ent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States, on receipt 

of the price. 



OLIVER GOLDSMITH. 



SELECT POEMS OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH. Edited, 
with Notes, by William J. Rolfe, A.M., formerly Head 
Master of the High School, Cambridge, Mass. Illus- 
trated. i6mo, Cloth, 90 cents. {Uniform with Rolfe' s 
Edition of Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice^ Tempest^ 
Henry VII I. ^ Richard II., and jfulius Ccesar.) 



The carefully arranged editions of "The Merchant of Venice" and 
other of Shakespeare's plays prepared by Mr. William J. Rolfe for the 
use of students will be remembered with pleasure by many readers, and 
they will welcome another volume of a similar character from the same 
source, in the form of the " Select Poems of Oliver Goldsmith," edited 
with notes fuller than those of any other known edition, many of them 
original with the editor. — Boston Transcript. 

Mr. Rolfe is doing very useful work in the preparation of compact 
hand-books for study in English literature. His own personal culture, 
and his long experience as a teacher, give him good knowledge of what is 
wanted in this way. — The Congregationalist, Boston. 

Mr. Rolfe has prefixed to the Poems selections illustrative of Gold- 
smith's character as a man and grade as a poet, from sketches by Ma- 
caulay, Thackeray, George Colman, Thomas Campbell, John Forster, and 
Washington Irving. He has also appended, at the end of the volume, a 
body of scholarly notes explaining and illustrating the poems, and dealing 
with the times in which they were written as well as the incidents and 
circumstances attending their composition. — Christian Intelligencer, '^.Y . 

The notes are just and discriminating in tone, and supply all that is 
necessary either for understanding the thought of the several poems, or 
for a critical study of the language. The use of such books in the school- 
room can not but contribute largely toward putting the study of English 
literature upon a sound basis ; and many an adult reader would find in 
the present volume an excellent opportunity for becoming critically ac- 
quainted with one of the greatest of last century's poets. — Appletons'' 
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Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York. 

Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States or Canada, on 
receipt of the price. 



THOMAS GRAY. 

SELECT POEMS OF THOMAS GRAY. Edited, with 
Notes, by William J. Rolfe, A.M., formerly Head Mas- 
ter of the High School, Cambridge, Mass. Illustrated. 
Square i6mo. Cloth, 90 cents. (^Uniform with Rolfe' s 
Edition of Shakespeare^ s Merchant of Venice, Tempest, Henry 
VIII. , Richard II., and Julius C(Bsar, and the Select Poems 
of Oliver Goldsmith.) 

Mr. Rolfe has done his work in a manner that comes as near to per- 
fection as man can approach. He knows his subject so well that he is 
competent to instruct all in it ; and readers will find an immense amount 
of knowledge in his elegant volume, all set forth in the most admirable 
order, and breathing the most liberal and enlightened spirit, he being a 
warm appreciator of the divinity of genius. — Boston Traveller. 

The great merit of these books lie in their carefully-edited text, and in 
the fullness of their explanatory notes. Mr. Rolfe is not satisfied with 
simply expounding, but he explores the entire field of English literature, 
and therefrom gathers a multitude of illustrations that are interesting in 
themselves and valuable as a commentary on the text. He not only in- 
structs, but stimulates his readers to fresh exertion ; and it is this stimula- 
tion that makes his labors so productive in the school-room. — Saturday' 
Evening Gazette, Boston. 

Mr. William J. Rolfe, to whom English literature is largely indebted 
for annotated and richly-illustrated editions of several of Shakespeare's 
plays, has treated the " Select Poems of Thomas Gray" in the same way — 
just as he had previously dealt with the best of Goldsmith's poems. — The 
Press, Phila. 

Mr. Rolfe's edition of Thomas Gray's select poems is marked by the 
same discriminating taste as his other classics. — Springfield Republican. 

Mr. Rolfe's rare abilities as a teacher and his fine scholarly tastes ena- 
ble him to prepare a classic like this in the best manner for school use. 
There could be no better exercise for the advanced classes in our schools 
than the critical study of our best authors, and the volumes that Mr. Rolfe 
has prepared will hasten the time when the study of mere form will give 
place to the study of the spirit of our literature. — Lonisville Courier -yoii7'nal. 

An elegant and scholarly little volume. — Christian Intelligencer, N. Y. 



Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York. 

Harper & Brothers will send the above work by mail or express, postage or freight 
prepaid, to any part of the U S. or Canada, on receipt of the price. 



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